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No subway for old men? Gov't to study restricting free transit rides for senior citizens at rush hour.

Published: 24 Mar. 2026, 17:53 Updated: 24 Mar. 2026, 17:54

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

The Gimpo Airport Station on Seoul subway line No. 9 is seen on July 31, 2023. [NEWS1]

President Lee Jae Myung instructed government ministries to study whether free public transit rides for older people could be restricted during peak commuting hours, reigniting a long-simmering debate over the sustainability of the country's subway fare exemption system.

Lee raised the issue while discussing measures to address the energy crisis and public transit use, noting that rush-hour overcrowding causes significant discomfort for commuters, speaking at a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on Tuesday.

He told Climate and Energy Minister Kim Sung-whan to look into limiting free rides for older people traveling for leisure during peak times, while acknowledging the difficulty of distinguishing them from older workers commuting.

“The restriction would apply only during peak hours of one or two hours,” said Lee, asking the Ministry of Health and Welfare to participate in the review.

The proposal comes against a backdrop of mounting financial pressure on subway operators.

Total losses from free rides across the nation's six urban rail operators reached a record 775.4 billion won ($518.9 million) last year, a 7.3 percent increase over the prior year, according to data from the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation and other sources.

Cumulative losses from 2020 through last year amounted to approximately 3.57 trillion won.

Commuters sit and stand inside a subway car in Seoul on Dec. 1, 2025. [YONHAP]

The free-ride program was introduced in 1984. Under a revision to the Senior Welfare Act enforcement decree that year, the fare discount for seniors aged 65 and over on subways and national electric railways was raised from 50 percent to 100 percent.

At the time, the population aged 65 and older comprised just 4.1 percent of the total, but that figure has since grown more than fivefold to 21.2 percent last year.

The share of free-ride losses within total subway operating deficits has also grown dramatically, rising from 24.4 percent in 2020 to 58 percent in 2024, increasingly crowding out investment in aging infrastructure.

Budget minister nominee Park Hong-keun also weighed in on the issue during his confirmation hearing on Monday, stating that a comprehensive review encompassing "age threshold adjustments, central government support, local government efforts and user contributions" was needed.

Some observers have suggested narrowing eligibility to seniors in the bottom 70 percent of income, the same threshold used for basic pension benefits for people over 65. A Korea Transport Institute study projected this approach could reduce free-ride losses by 71.7 percent compared to the current system by 2030.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]