Commuters wait for buses at a Gangnam Station bus stop in Seoul on their way home./Courtesy of News1

A "public transportation flat-rate pass" (working title) that allows unlimited use of public transit nationwide for a fixed monthly payment will be introduced on Jan. 1 next year. The government sought to cap the monthly benefit at 200,000 won, but the National Assembly increased the related budget.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 3rd, the National Assembly finalized the budget for the public transportation flat-rate pass at 527.444 billion won. That is an increase of 30.53 billion won from the government proposal.

There will be two types of public transportation flat-rate passes. One covers only subways and buses, and the other also includes GTX and metropolitan buses. Both types will be linked to a credit or debit card for fare payment and settlement.

For the subway and bus flat-rate pass, residents of the capital region who are not eligible for other benefits can receive a refund of the amount exceeding a monthly usage of 62,000 won. For example, if a person pays a total of 100,000 won in subway and bus fares in a month, they would get back 38,000 won after subtracting 62,000 won.

Price for flat-rate passes for bus and subway public transportation/Ministry of Economy and Finance

Even among capital region residents, youth, seniors, and two-child households will receive refunds based on a threshold of 55,000 won. For three-child and low-income households in the capital region, the threshold is lowered to 45,000 won. For residents outside the capital region, thresholds of 30,000 to 55,000 won apply.

Refunds are available even when a person pays less in subway and bus fares than the threshold amount. Users will receive back 20% to 53% of their actual fares paid.

For the GTX and metropolitan bus flat-rate pass, the refund threshold is set about 30,000 won higher than that for the subway and bus flat-rate pass.

Meanwhile, existing K-Pass customers do not need to apply separately for the public transportation flat-rate pass. Users will receive the larger of the following: the difference between "actual transportation expenses paid and the refund threshold amount," or "the amount obtained by applying the refund rate to actual transportation expenses paid."

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