Last year, 5.26 million vehicles ran on the highway per day… Increased by 610,000 units in 4 years

It was found that the number of vehicles using national highways has increased to well over 5 million per day. It is analyzed that overall usage has steadily increased as travel demand has recovered after COVID-19 and new highway routes have opened one after another.

According to data submitted by the Korea Expressway Corporation to Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, on the 8th, the total number of highway users last year was 1.91937 billion, reaching an average of about 5.26 million vehicles per day.

Compared to the average of about 4.65 million vehicles per day in 2021, daily usage increased by about 610,000 vehicles (13.1%) in four years.

The average daily use of highways increased every year to 4.85 million vehicles in 2022, 4.99 million vehicles in 2023, and 5.12 million vehicles in 2024.

The Korea Road Corporation cited an increase in road travel, centered on passenger cars, due to the decline in public transportation use during the COVID-19 period, and the overall recovery in travel demand after COVID-19 as one of the reasons for the increase in traffic volume.

The expansion of the road network with the opening of new highway routes also had an impact. In particular, the Korea Expressway Corporation explained that last year, the effect of increased traffic due to the opening of the new Sejong-Pocheon Expressway was also reflected.

Along with the increase in highway use, toll revenue also increased. Last year, Korea Expressway Corporation's toll revenue was 4.4 trillion won, an increase of 5.5% from 2021. Toll revenue is 12.1 billion won per day.

The Korea Expressway Corporation explained that toll revenue did not increase as much as the increase in traffic volume due to the increase in vehicles using short distances and the expansion of private highways.

Most toll booths with a lot of traffic were located in the metropolitan area. Among closed sales offices, the Seoul office had the largest number of vehicles on average per day last year, with 102,000 vehicles used per day. This was followed by 98,000 units in West Seoul, 86,000 units in Pangyo, and 83,000 units in Namincheon. Among open sales offices, Guri-Namyangju had the most with 193,000 units, followed by Gimpo with 187,000 units and Seongnam with 182,000 units.

By route, the most vehicles were concentrated on the Gyeongbu Expressway. Last year, the average number of vehicles using the Gyeongbu Line reached 1.49 million per day.

Among the major sections, the Gyeongbu Line had the most traffic. Last year, an average of 224,000 vehicles passed through the section between Suwon Singal and Singal JC.

The Gyeongbu Line, which has a lot of traffic, was also concentrated on sections with frequent accidents. Of the 20 sections with the highest number of accidents, 9 were on the Gyeongbu Line. The sections with the most deaths were Cheongju IC to Mokcheon IC on the Gyeongbu Line and Gamgok to Yeoju on the Central Inland Line, with 5 deaths each.

Representative Hwang Hee said, "The success of highway policies depends on how precisely we manage bottlenecks and dangerous sections where traffic volume and accidents are concentrated. We need to redefine investment priorities based on demand and risk, and check whether expansion, improvement, and safety measures actually lead to congestion relief and accident reduction."