Things You Can Learn From Seoul's Subway

[M II A II R II K]

Seoul's Subway User Friendliness

http://www.businessinsider.com/seoul-subway-system-beats-nyc-2015-12




You don't need to buy a separate ticket if you download the subway app. It saves a lot of time.

But if you want to buy tickets and don't have change, you can use this to get singles. it saves you from carrying change.

The stations are full of big, widely touted subway maps.

These screen doors prevent people from falling onto the tracks. It saves a lot of people from getting injured.

These screens show where the train is in real time. It gives you an idea of how much more you need to wait on the platform.

There were tons of screens all over the station. Lots of opportunities to sell ad space.

Vending machines were pretty common. Some stations had convenience stores on the platform.

The train's finally here! See anything strange?

Screens in the subway show the exact time and distance left to get to your next stop.

The shows on the screen kept me entertained ...

And of course, the Wi-Fi connection was solid.

Corner seats are left empty, even when the train is packed, so seniors or pregnant women can find them.

Full-wall screen that ran ads 24/7.

There was also this moving walkway for slow walkers.

The escalators don't move until someone steps on them. That saves a lot in energy costs.

 

[Johnny Au]

We have much to learn from Seoul.

Once, a subway train in Seoul closed its doors on a stroller (which was fortunately empty) and the train moved with the crushed stroller.

 

[Bojaxs]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#Economy
Seoul;
Population (metro reigon): 25, 620,000
GDP (metro): $845.9 billion (US)
GDP per capita (metro): $34,355 (US)

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/economy/ecupdates/factsheet.html
https://www.google.ca/search?q=what...rceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#q=gdp+of+the+gta
Toronto;
Population (metro region): 6,055,724
GDP(metro): $323 billion (US)
GDP per capita (Ontario household): $35,855 (US)

The only thing South Korea has taught me is that Toronto needs to more than double it's economic output and population if it ever wants to see subways such as the ones in Seoul.

 

[ksun]

Yes, that's why I always think Toronto should aim to double its population.
But on the other hand cities like Madrid and Munich don't have huge population it are also years ahead of us. Population is not the real reason I would say.

 

[nfitz]

Yes, that's why I always think Toronto should aim to double its population.
But on the other hand cities like Madrid and Munich don't have huge population it are also years ahead of us.

Is Munich that far ahead of us? We currently have 75 stations (including the 6 under construction) compared to the 96 they have. But the Eglinton line will add 13 stations and 10 surface stops. Munich doesn't seem to have anything equivalent to our new LRT lines, and their streetcar network looks like a similar extent to ours, but with only 106 vehicles and 165 stops, compared to our approximate 250 vehicles and over 600 stops. They do have us beat with the commuter trains, but not beyond what GO is working to expand to with it's RER service.

Munich is ahead of us - but I wouldn't say it's years ahead of us (though I suppose "years" could technically be a few as "2" but that's not really how it's used).

Population is not the real reason I would say.

No it isn't. Population density rather than just population is the primary driver.

 

[M II A II R II K]

It's not the population it's the quality of service, trains, and stations.

 

[Napoleon]

Is Munich that far ahead of us? We currently have 75 stations (including the 6 under construction) compared to the 96 they have. But the Eglinton line will add 13 stations and 10 surface stops. Munich doesn't seem to have anything equivalent to our new LRT lines, and their streetcar network looks like a similar extent to ours, but with only 106 vehicles and 165 stops, compared to our approximate 250 vehicles and over 600 stops. They do have us beat with the commuter trains, but not beyond what GO is working to expand to with it's RER service.

Munich is ahead of us - but I wouldn't say it's years ahead of us (though I suppose "years" could technically be a few as "2" but that's not really how it's used).

Have you been to Munich?

It is 100 times easier to get around Munich than Toronto. Just look at the map of the U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (RER-style rail that also fills the inner core):

It's meaningless to count stations...it's all about how they are spaced and utilized. Munich has done a great job of designing its transit network and is decades ahead of Toronto.

 

[nfitz]

Munich has done a great job of designing its transit network and is decades ahead of Toronto.

And yet transit ridership in Toronto has a higher share than Munich.

 

[kotsy]

Where does 75 Toronto stations come from? I thought we had 69.

When you combine Munich's u-bahn and s-bahn then they are way ahead of us, especially considering how even/spread out its coverage is. Toronto's rapid transit map presents extremely large holes when you look at it for general coverage.

As far as I know (and correct me if I'm wrong) the s-bahn is very much similar to the u-bahn, but it operates above ground completely separate from traffic. Our SRT would be comparable to it.

Edit: Munich's U-Bahn is 96 stations over 8 lines and the S-Bahn is 150 stations over 8 lines.

 

[nfitz]

We currently have 75 stations (including the 6 under construction)

Where does 75 Toronto stations come from? I thought we had 69.

... and 6 under construction.

 

[kotsy]

... and 6 under construction.

Pardon me. Somehow missed "including" there.

 

[MisterF]

And yet transit ridership in Toronto has a higher share than Munich.

Well Munich is half the size of Toronto (including suburbs) so that might have something to do with it.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Seoul being so close to North Korea probably have to use the underground stations as bomb shelters. So the South Korean government has to kick in extra funds to reinforce them.

If Trump gets the presidency, would Ottawa do the same?

 

[nfitz]

Seoul being so close to North Korea probably have to use the underground stations as bomb shelters. So the South Korean government has to kick in extra funds to reinforce them.

Then why are the suburban stops as you get closer to North Korea above ground?

 

[Napoleon]

When you combine Munich's u-bahn and s-bahn then they are way ahead of us, especially considering how even/spread out its coverage is. Toronto's rapid transit map presents extremely large holes when you look at it for general coverage.

As far as I know (and correct me if I'm wrong) the s-bahn is very much similar to the u-bahn, but it operates above ground completely separate from traffic. Our SRT would be comparable to it.

U-Bahn is basically your standard subway. In Munich it runs underground most of the time, but some lines like the U6 towards Garching pop aboveground near Fröttmanning when the population density is too low to justify tunneling.

S-Bahn means "Schnell" Bahn or fast train and is similar to Parisian RER. It's like GO but integrated into the within city network. So in the downtown, S-Bahn is also underground. Aboveground it's definitely separated from traffic and its either LRT or heavy-rail depending on the city. I'm a little fuzzy on that last point since it often seems to be somewhere in between what I think of as LRT and heavy rail. I wonder if that's because there's no freight on these lines that it doesn't have to meet normal heavy rail standards. S-Bahn is great for getting around in the city and also to nearby suburbs.

Two other modes are used in German cities:

• Straßenbahn: is a streetcar. These are similar to our streetcars, except they tend to operate in their own ROW with highly-effective TSP. Stops are also typically spaced more widely than here. Of course, there's also busses.
• Regional rail: This picks up where the S-Bahn leaves off. Trips to neighboring cities. Not for nationwide trips though.

One thing that's great is that the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and other local transport are all integrated within a single unified fare-by-distance model. It's all PoP so there are no faregates and usually no ticket booths in most stations.