Mass exodus starts a day before Chuseok holiday
- 5 years ago
Tomorrow is the first day of Korea's Chuseok holiday.
Many Koreans living here in Seoul will be or are already travelling to see their families and relatives in other parts of the country.
And our Lee Min-sun is at the Seoul Tollgate with more on the pre-holiday traffic.
Min-sun, How are things looking there?
Hi Devin,
I'm at the Seoul Tollgate, a gateway to major highways that many people will be using to travel to other parts of the country.
Like you said, the Chuseok holiday starts tomorrow for four days, from Thursday through the weekend for most people.
Because it's relatively short, many people plan to start their journey a day early.
So far, major highways have stayed clear from traffic congestion, but the number of cars is gradually increasing. As of now, traffic is expected to peak at around 6PM.
A total of 33-and-a-half million people are expected to travel during the holidays, and over 86 percent of them will go by car.
The highways will be the most crowded on Friday, the actual day of Chuseok with some 8-point-9 million people mostly coming back to Seoul, but today, still some 4-point-6 million people are expected to hit the road.
On average, there'll be some 5 million cars on highways each day which is 7-point-5 percent more than last year. And for that, it's expected to take a lot longer for people to reach their destinations.
According to the transportation ministry, drive times to major cities could be up to an hour and 50 minutes longer than last year. From Seoul to Busan by car it's estimated to take eight-and-a-half hours. The same distance usually takes less than five hours outside of the holiday period.
To Daejeon and Gangneung it will take four hours and 40 minutes which is almost twice the usual travel time.
The traffic authorities will also provide real-time traffic information based on IT technologies. That information will be available on the traffic authority's website and on mobile applications.
Drivers can also check broadcasts or signs on highways for alternative routes with less traffic.
I'll have more updates this evening. For those driving, have a great holiday and be safe
Many Koreans living here in Seoul will be or are already travelling to see their families and relatives in other parts of the country.
And our Lee Min-sun is at the Seoul Tollgate with more on the pre-holiday traffic.
Min-sun, How are things looking there?
Hi Devin,
I'm at the Seoul Tollgate, a gateway to major highways that many people will be using to travel to other parts of the country.
Like you said, the Chuseok holiday starts tomorrow for four days, from Thursday through the weekend for most people.
Because it's relatively short, many people plan to start their journey a day early.
So far, major highways have stayed clear from traffic congestion, but the number of cars is gradually increasing. As of now, traffic is expected to peak at around 6PM.
A total of 33-and-a-half million people are expected to travel during the holidays, and over 86 percent of them will go by car.
The highways will be the most crowded on Friday, the actual day of Chuseok with some 8-point-9 million people mostly coming back to Seoul, but today, still some 4-point-6 million people are expected to hit the road.
On average, there'll be some 5 million cars on highways each day which is 7-point-5 percent more than last year. And for that, it's expected to take a lot longer for people to reach their destinations.
According to the transportation ministry, drive times to major cities could be up to an hour and 50 minutes longer than last year. From Seoul to Busan by car it's estimated to take eight-and-a-half hours. The same distance usually takes less than five hours outside of the holiday period.
To Daejeon and Gangneung it will take four hours and 40 minutes which is almost twice the usual travel time.
The traffic authorities will also provide real-time traffic information based on IT technologies. That information will be available on the traffic authority's website and on mobile applications.
Drivers can also check broadcasts or signs on highways for alternative routes with less traffic.
I'll have more updates this evening. For those driving, have a great holiday and be safe