Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nora]

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2951565&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

They need the cities permission (according to the city), but they don't need it (according to a contract with the city). Who knows what's going to happen... I'll be avoiding line 9 if they do raise the rates. It's a useful line, to a point. It's not useful enough for me to pay more to use it, that's for sure!

[sojusucks]

What's interesting is that we all know that the real problem is that so much of the ridership pays nothing to ride all day long, and many do it just for fun. I'm talking about older Koreans who abuse their free ridership. Yes, the ajumas who knock everyone over and the adjoshis who get drunk and badmouth foreigners all ride for free while we pay and put up with their rudeness. Now, we are going to pay more to ride while they still pay nothing. It's not right.

Also, if the fare increase for the 9 line goes through I'm half expecting the other lines to increase their prices to "make things fair." Reply

[nathanrutledge]

I argued about the fare increase before and pointed out in a country with a declining, aging population, you CANNOT raise the fares to cover a shortfall. All that happens is you have to continue raising it since more and more ride for free.

The other lines cannot raise their fares - they are all government owned and it's been made pretty clear that they won't be raising it again for a while. Line 9 and the SinBundang line are privately owned, but under contracts/rules on when and how they can raise the rates.

As much as I dislike the liberal politicians here, at least they are against raising the rates.

[Steelrails]

A 500 won increase is getting people this riled up? Really?

[nathanrutledge]

500 won is a 50% raise over what it was just a few months ago. Even the last raise from 900 to 1050 is a 16% increase. That means that people who budget their income have a BIG gap to fill. Remember, while most ESL teachers earn at least 2 mil a month, the vast majority of young Koreans are part of that 88 man won group. Let's say a person rode line 9 every day for work, to and from. Assuming 24 working days in a month (doing a 6 day week as many still do) that's 43,200 won. It's now been bumped up to 50400, and if line 9 gets their way, it will become 74400. That's a 72% increase from the beginning of the year.

As far as your comments on foreigners SR, last I checked, the Korean government took quite a bit from MY paycheck for taxes so you can bet that I'm going to be using government services.

If that extra 500 won were all about the seniors, then why can't they pay that. By your logic, it's only 500 won so why would they get riled up? By MY belief, they SHOULD pay for riding the subway. Discount, fine, but something to help offset the cost and something to discourage the people who simply hop and and ride for fun.

Long story short, it's more of the same. We pay more, we get the same services.

[fermentation]

[motiontodismiss]

Line 9 is privately owned & operated. They should be charging senior citizens. Actually the other 8 lines too. There's no reason why senior citizens should get to ride for free, especially during rush hour. Either that, or there should be a limit on how many times they get to ride for free, say 60 times a month.

I'd say:
1. Rush hour (6AM-9AM, 6PM-9PM): full fare
2. Non-peak daytime (9AM-6PM): half fare
3. All other times: quarter fare

would be reasonable.

They should also probably implement a peak time surcharge of 10-20% between 8AM and 9AM, 6PM and 7PM. Line 2 during those hours is unsafe to ride; too many people.

[Steelrails]

Yeah, darn freeloading seniors.

I mean, its not like they didn't grow up in extreme poverty and hunger, watched loved ones get blown up, sacrificed free time and money for the sake of their children and baby sat their grandkids instead of going out to eat. Those selfish freeloaders.

Those 88 Man won kids enjoy cell phones and food in their stomachs and roofs over their head with high speed internet, electricity, a stable sanitary water supply, time and money for leisure, and new clothes on their backs. If an extra 40,000 won a month is going to break their back, they should have not bought a smart phone or a new pair of shoes, or grow their own vegetables or get a second job, or cut back on electricity.

Those kids are able to enjoy their lifestyle because those freeloading old people worked their tail off and turned the country form a 3rd world backwater into the 13th largest economy in the world. Let em ride 9 line all the live long day. I mean some of those same old people might have built line 1 with their own two hands. It's not like those people would wake up at 4 AM and walk 3 miles to get to work or anything like that. Let em ride the thing for free. If you're 85 and lived through an occupation and a civil war as a child, then maybe got sent to Nam, then helped turn your country from a bunch of hills and little else into a commercial powerhouse, and you want to spend your declining years sitting on a subway and out of the heat, fine by me.

Oooo, you teach English or are a 20 year old shlup at Tony Moly, what a contributing spirit you are...Yeah, life is really screwing you over with that 500 won rate increase, talk about unfair.

Let me guess, the people who are griping about this are the types that split up a check down to the last farthing.

Of course, down the line there will be some thread about how Korean merchants are penny-pinchers and greedy and only think about themselves...

[motiontodismiss]

That was then. This is now. Just the fact that they built this country doesn't mean they get to bankrupt it, or rip off the next generation. The national pension is expected to go bankrupt in like 30 years. The national health system's being bankrupted as we speak because of the "medical shoppers" (young and old). Nothing, I mean NOTHING, should EVER be free.

And btw I dislike freeloaders of all kinds, young, old and everywhere in between.

Of course, how moronic of the government to encourage the use of public transit while at the same time raising fares. More people are going to drive if the increase to 1,550 goes through. It would be cheaper for a family of 4 to drive a short distance (provided they already have a car-that's a sunk cost) of up to 30km (depending on gas mileage) than to take the subway. And 30km is Bundang to Gwanghwamun.

[Steelrails]

[nathanrutledge]

Because nothing IS free. Every single thing in this world has a cost, and if you give it to someone for free, that means you have taken it from someone else. Econ 101.

Why should the dwindling, young population be forced to subsidize the growing elderly population? You think the free subway fare was designed for the elderly to hop on and ride all day long, just for the fun of it? The system is being abused and it forces costs to rise.

Your argument just doesn't hold water. First, we're not talking about taxes - we're talking about subway fares. The subway runs a deficit and they want to charge some of us more when a large segment of society is paying nothing.

Second, it's a private business only insofar as they have permission from the government to use the PUBLIC right of way. It's NOT a private company that can do whatever it wants. It has a contract that limits the amount of money it can charge and how much and how often it can raise the fare. There is a clear argument between the company and the government over the contract.

Third, the fact that they lived through a war is a red herring. You are saying that because one group of people suffered, a second group of people who had nothing to do with said suffering (and weren't even alive during it!) should subsidize these individuals. Totally unrelated. IF we were talking about the GOVERNMENT subsidizing these individuals with tax dollars, that'd be a different story. But we're not. We're talking about subway fares.

[fermentation]

[quote="Steelrails"]Yeah, darn freeloading seniors.

I mean, its not like they didn't grow up in extreme poverty and hunger, watched loved ones get blown up, sacrificed free time and money for the sake of their children and baby sat their grandkids instead of going out to eat. Those selfish freeloaders.
[quote]

I fail to see what that has to do with anything. Should everybody who's had a hard life be given free rides? I went to the military against my will for this country. Where's my free ride?

[Steelrails]

[cdninkorea]

[atwood]