Difference between US and South Korea transprotation - Research Paper Example

Notable areas that have witnessed tremendous development include the public transportation sector. The growth in the economy has led to the rapid expansion of air, land and sea transportation. To this end, the period of rapid growth in the transport sector can be traced back to the early 1990’s. During this period, South Korea was emerging as a formidable trading nation globally. Consequently, the transportation sector garnered 7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 1999. Apart from the rapid economic growth, increase in population density in Seoul and the greater metropolitan area created an incentive for growth of the public transport sector.

To this end, a raft of reforms in the transportation sector enabled Seoul to gain a competitive edge against established public transport networks globally. The subsequent sections will elaborate on the reasons for development of South Korean public transport network. Furthermore, the positive effects of the public transport development to the South Korean society will be discussed. In addition, a comparative analysis of the differences between the South Korean public transport and the United States model will be comprehensively discussed.

Reasons for Development of South Korean Public Transport In order to understand the development of South Korea’s public transport, a background of the precipitating factors is essential. Foremost, Seoul and the wider metropolitan areas of Gyeonggi and Incheon province have witnessed rapid population growth since 1942. The effect of population growth from 9 million to 25 million by 2010 increased demand in transportation. Furthermore, coupled by a rapidly growing economy, the public transportation sector was in need of reforms to mitigate over the crisis.

Consequently, the reforms initiated touched on technology, infrastructure and policy affecting public transport. To this end, the reforms undertaken were based on visionary and integrated approach. The vision was to make ‘Seoul a clean and attractive city’(Kuranami et al 8-1). Consequently, the focal themes were centred on three areas. These were: environmental sustainability through a low carbon emission transport system; human centred traffic system; social inclusion, and economic growth through the building of demand management.

Reforms in the public transit sector were undertaken by the Seoul Metropolitan government (SMG). Foremost, the SMG introduced rapid transit corridors for the buses to ease congestion. This involved redesigning of the bus routes and the introduction of feeder routes. Second, the SMG implemented a uniform fare structure and an automated ticket system across all modes of transportation and designated routes. Consequently, the SMG maintained the decision of fare regulations as well as schedules and routes.

In addition, a colour coded numbering system of the buses was introduced in order to specify the types of services they offered. In terms of infrastructural development, median bus right- of- ways were expanded to accommodate the Bus Rapid Transit services. Moreover, the bus lanes were increased and upgraded as well as the expansion of the length of curb side bus lanes. Railway transport equally experienced development strategies that boosted development of So