"Do you have to wave to catch a bus in Incheon?" Yoo Jae-suk left bewildered

[Financial News] TV personality Yoo Jae-suk and his group were bewildered when a city bus passed without stopping as they waited at a bus stop in Incheon. After the video was released, online users continued sharing experiences that, depending on the area, buses stop only when passengers clearly signal their intention to board, such as by waving.
The episode of Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)'s "Whenever Possible," which aired on the 29th, featured hosts Yoo Jae-suk and Yoo Yeon-seok touring various parts of Incheon with guests Byun Yo-han and Roh Jae-won.
In a preview video released on YouTube ahead of the broadcast, they visited a bus stop in Incheon to catch a city bus.
After waiting for about 10 minutes, the bus they intended to take approached, and the cast members moved toward the front of the stop to board. However, the bus passed by without stopping.
After missing the bus, the cast members were bewildered and said, "The bus just went right past us."
Yoo Jae-suk asked, "Do you have to wave to catch a bus in Incheon?" and added, "This is bewildering."
After watching other passengers board the next bus, Yoo Jae-suk said, "Now that I see it, you have to actively signal your intention for the driver to stop."
After the video was released, online users continued sharing their experiences with bus-boarding practices in different regions.
Some users who said they live in Incheon shared similar experiences. They said, "If you live in Incheon, at a quiet bus stop like that, you absolutely have to send a physical signal that you intend to board," "I live in Incheon, and it's really like that. You absolutely have to wave," and "In Incheon, even if you're standing at the stop in a way that clearly shows you intend to board, you still have to wave specifically to let the driver know in advance, 'I'm getting on that bus.'"
Similar experiences were reported outside Incheon as well.
One user said, "Northern Gyeonggi is like that too," adding, "There are drivers who stop even if you occasionally don't signal your intention, but if you're not standing out in front of the stop, they just pass by."
Other users said, "I live in Pangyo, and it's like that in my neighborhood too," and "I live in Gimpo next to Incheon, and even if you're standing behind or out in front of the stop, if you're looking at your phone, the bus just drives on. You have to wave."
Others, however, said they were unfamiliar with the practice because bus-stop procedures vary by region. They said, "I moved to Gyeonggi Province after living in Seoul, and I was bewildered to see that buses wouldn't stop unless I waved," "I live in Busan, and buses always stop at the bus stop even when no one is there," and "In Daejeon, buses stop just because someone is standing there, so if it's not the bus I'm taking, I turn my back as much as possible to show that I don't intend to board."
Meanwhile, among complaints about Incheon Metropolitan City's city-bus services, "passing without stopping" was the most common. Last year, there were 4,004 complaints about buses passing without stopping, accounting for 37.9% of all complaints. They were followed by "unfriendliness" with 2,238 complaints (21.2%), "reckless driving" with 1,213 (11.5%), "refusal to pick up passengers" with 989 (9.4%), and "failure to maintain bus intervals" with 371 (3.5%).
[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter