Daily highway traffic during this year's Chuseok holiday is expected to average 6.05 million vehicles, up 11.8% from a year earlier. Outbound travel is expected to peak on the morning of the 24th, while return trips will be heaviest on the afternoon of the 25th, the Chuseok holiday itself.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 20th that it will designate the five days from the 23rd to the 27th as a special transport management period for the Chuseok holiday.
According to the Korea Transport Institute and Korea Expressway Corporation, total travel during the holiday is projected at 30.93 million people, down 3.5% from last year. Passenger cars will account for 88.4% of trips, with daily highway traffic averaging 6.05 million vehicles, an 11.8% increase from a year earlier. On Chuseok day itself, 6.84 million vehicles are expected on the roads.
Outbound trips will take longest on the morning of the 24th, the first day of the holiday, while return trips will be slowest on the afternoon of the 25th. Maximum travel times between major cities are projected at 10 hours and 30 minutes from Seoul to Busan and 10 hours and 45 minutes from Seoul to Mokpo for outbound trips, and nine hours from Busan to Seoul and seven hours and 40 minutes from Mokpo to Seoul for return trips.
Highway tolls will be waived from the 24th to the 27th. The waiver is set to be finalized at a Cabinet meeting on the 22nd. During the holiday, 226 gas stations on state-funded highways managed by Korea Expressway Corporation will cut fuel prices by 100 won per liter.
To manage congestion, the ministry will focus on 299 sections of expressways and national highways covering 2,312 kilometers and will open shoulder lanes on 64 highway sections spanning 374 kilometers. It will also newly open 11 sections of national highways totaling 71 kilometers and extend bus-only lane hours on the Yangjae-Sintanjin stretch of the Gyeongbu Expressway by four hours, until 1 a.m. the following day.
The number of bus and rail services will rise 11.8% and seating capacity 11.1% from normal levels. Rail capacity will be about 9% higher per day than during last year's Chuseok. KTX fares will be discounted by an average of 10%, and reverse-direction travel fares by up to 50%.
