'Modu's Card' Staggered Commuting Refund Extended Through December; Program to Continue Next Year

[Financial News] The government will extend through the end of the year the staggered commuting-time refund benefit under 'Modu's Card,' which was introduced to ease rush-hour congestion and reduce transportation costs.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)'s Metropolitan Area Transport Committee (Daegwangwi) announced on the 28th that it will extend through December the staggered commuting-time incentive, which provides an additional refund rate when people use public transportation before or after peak commuting hours. Accordingly, users can continue to receive additional refunds when they use public transportation from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m., 9 to 10 a.m., 4 to 5 p.m., and 7 to 8 p.m.
Through this year's supplementary budget, Daegwangwi has lowered the fixed-amount refund threshold for Modu's Card by 50% and introduced an additional 30 percentage points to the percentage-based refund rate for rides taken before or after peak commuting hours. As a result, users received refunds equivalent to about 60% of their public transportation spending, while those traveling during staggered hours received refunds of up to 83.3%.
The benefits were found to have reduced transportation costs while also encouraging greater use of public transportation. After the supplementary-budget benefits were introduced, the average monthly refund per person rose to 41,300 won, nearly double the pre-program figure of 20,700 won and about 2.5 times last year's monthly average of 16,500 won. The average number of monthly refund recipients also increased by 630,000, from 2.83 million to 3.46 million, a rise of 22.3%. An analysis by The Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) likewise found that the national public transportation modal share rose by 2.4 percentage points, from 26.2% to 28.6%, after policies addressing high oil prices, including the staggered-time incentive, were introduced.
The policy also helped disperse demand during peak commuting hours. After the supplementary-budget benefits were introduced, the average daily number of trips made by refund recipients during commuting hours rose by 20.7%, below the 25.4% increase across all time periods. In other words, although public transportation use increased overall, the concentration of trips during commuting hours eased. The share of daily trips occurring during commuting hours also fell from 49.55% to 47.67%.
The benefit providing an additional 30 percentage points to the percentage-based refund rate for public transportation rides during staggered commuting hours will remain unchanged. The refund rates during these hours are 50% for the general public, 60% for young people, households with two children, and older adults, 80% for households with three or more children, and 83.3% for low-income households. However, the Half-Price Modu's Card benefit, which cuts the fixed-amount refund threshold in half, will apply only to usage through September, as originally planned.
Chairman Kim Yong-seok said, "The supplementary-budget benefits under Modu's Card, implemented over the past six months, have made a tangible contribution to easing people's transportation costs amid high oil prices and encouraging public transportation use. We will continue to closely analyze usage patterns and changes in demand by time period and develop measures to reduce transportation costs and promote public transportation use."

[email protected] Jung Kyung-soo Reporter