Three days after the government banned passengers from standing in inter-city buses for safety reasons, buses are packed like sardines as if nothing happened.
The new rules triggered anger from commuters in the Seoul metropolitan area who flooded the Internet with angry tales about buses skipping stops because no seats were left. Bus drivers, who endured intense verbal abuse from passengers in the first two days, are beginning to give in.
When asked on Friday, municipal officials at Gyeonggi Province estimated that about 80 percent of buses connecting Gyeonggi cities to Seoul were accepting passengers after their seats were fully occupied to meet the demand in commuting hours.
More than 1,700 buses on 135 different routes moved between Gyeonggi and Seoul during the morning rush hour from 6 to 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Standing passengers were allowed on more than 80 percent of these buses during those three hours, Gyeonggi officials said.
More than 90 percent of the buses moving between Gyeonggi and Incheon allowed standing passengers in the same time frame.
Officials believe that the implementation of the rule was even looser on Thursday and during the morning hours of Friday.
The new rules triggered anger from commuters in the Seoul metropolitan area who flooded the Internet with angry tales about buses skipping stops because no seats were left. Bus drivers, who endured intense verbal abuse from passengers in the first two days, are beginning to give in.
When asked on Friday, municipal officials at Gyeonggi Province estimated that about 80 percent of buses connecting Gyeonggi cities to Seoul were accepting passengers after their seats were fully occupied to meet the demand in commuting hours.
More than 1,700 buses on 135 different routes moved between Gyeonggi and Seoul during the morning rush hour from 6 to 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Standing passengers were allowed on more than 80 percent of these buses during those three hours, Gyeonggi officials said.
More than 90 percent of the buses moving between Gyeonggi and Incheon allowed standing passengers in the same time frame.
Officials believe that the implementation of the rule was even looser on Thursday and during the morning hours of Friday.
![[INTERVIEW] 'Money Heist: Korea' writer feels satisfied to expand series' franchise](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e264f8d5589442489d72f9494ca3f1c7.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
