Blue House: "Incentives for Using Public Transportation Outside Peak Hours... Staggered Working Hours in Public Sector"

Emergency Meeting of Relevant Ministries Led by Chief Presidential Secretary for Economic Growth on April 2

"All Ministries Agree on the Need to Disperse Public Transportation Demand"

The Blue House is introducing incentives for public transportation users during certain hours and launching a flexible working hours system in the public sector to address public transit congestion.

On April 3, Blue House spokesperson Eunsoo Jeon announced in a briefing at the Blue House Press Hall, "With the recent sharp increase in international oil prices caused by the ongoing Middle East war, there has been a surge in citizens switching from private vehicles to public transportation such as subways and buses."

Eunsoo Jeon, the new spokesperson, is giving a briefing about measures to alleviate public transportation congestion during commuting hours at the Blue House Press Hall on April 3, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News

According to spokesperson Jeon, an emergency meeting was held on April 2 to discuss public transportation congestion, chaired by Chief Presidential Secretary for Economic Growth Hajun Kyung. During the meeting, officials reviewed measures to manage public transportation overcrowding resulting from soaring oil prices, ways to reduce private car use, and strategies to ensure safe travel for citizens.

Jeon explained, "We discussed providing additional incentives for citizens who use public transportation outside of peak hours, thereby encouraging voluntary changes in travel demand."

She added, "Above all, to distribute overall transportation demand more evenly across different times of day, we will proactively expand the flexible working hour system starting with the public sector. We discussed ways to establish flexible work arrangements in public institutions as a model and to develop effective support measures to promote this approach in the private sector as well."

Furthermore, Jeon stated, "As this initiative will be operated through an inter-ministerial joint task force, we will eliminate barriers between departments to respond comprehensively, from addressing the energy crisis to managing citizen safety. We are committed to alleviating transportation burdens caused by rising oil prices and creating an environment where all citizens can commute with peace of mind."

Jeon also emphasized, "All ministries reached a strong consensus that policies to disperse public transportation demand must be pursued more actively to reduce private car usage. The measures to ease commuting congestion will be led by the Blue House and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, with participation from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, forming a joint implementation system."

She stated, "We plan to immediately begin improving the system to develop these measures. Our goal is to minimize the system development period and design a smart system that can flexibly apply a variety of policy scenarios, including different time slots and discount rates."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.