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0 From May 1st, worry about transportation costs with ‘K-Pass’… 20~53% refund up to 60 times
Refund up to 60 times if you use city/village buses, subways, GTX, metropolitan buses, etc. more than 15 times a month.
- Reporter nameReporter Nam Gi-woong, Mobile Reporting Department
- Entered 2024.05.01 00:54
New users must go through the membership registration process… Existing economical transportation cards must be converted to membership to benefit
[Mobile Reporter Nam Ki-woong] K-Pass, which provides a refund of up to 53% of public transportation costs from 20%, will be implemented from the 1st of next month. If you use public transportation more than 15 times a month, you will be refunded up to 60 times.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee announced on the 30th that it will implement the K-Pass project in earnest from the 1st of next month.
K-Pass gives a certain percentage of the amount spent to the following month if you regularly use public transportation such as city/village buses, subways, metropolitan buses, or GTX more than 15 times a month. This is a transportation card you can receive.
This is a project in which the national and local governments work together, and currently participating regions include 17 cities/provinces and 189 cities/counties/districts. All local governments, except for some with small populations, are participating in the project. In order to register as a member of K-Pass, you must be registered as a resident in a participating local government at the time of membership registration.
To use it, obtain a K-Pass exclusive card through the websites of 10 credit card companies and sign up for membership.
If you register your card number when signing up for membership on the K-Pass official application (app) or website (korea-pass.kr), you can receive benefits based on your public transportation usage performance.
If you are an existing user of an economical transportation card, you can receive K-Pass benefits through a simple membership conversion process on the economical transportation card app or website (alcard.kr) without issuing an additional card or registering as a member.
In particular, foreigners who have been issued an alien registration card can sign up for K-Pass membership.
Since K-Pass benefits are not applied until membership conversion is completed, existing economical transportation card users must complete membership conversion. Membership conversion can be done through the Economic Transportation Card website until June 30th.
The economical transportation card app will be updated to the K-Pass app when accessed after the 1st of the next month.
Adults over the age of 19 who use public transportation more than 15 times a month with a K-Pass can save 20-53.3% of public transportation expenses for up to 60 trips per month (from the 1st to the last day of each month) and receive a refund in the next month. The savings rate is different: 20% for general (age 35 or older), 30% for young people (age 19-34), and 53.3% for low-income (beneficiary of basic livelihood security, second-lowest income).
If a user spends an average of 70,000 won per month, the average person will save 14,000 won, young people will save 21,000 won, and low-income people will save 37,000 won.
In addition to the K-Pass benefits, each card company also provides additional benefits depending on card usage records, so the savings effect is expected to be even higher.
Depending on the card issued, for check cards, the accumulated amount is refunded to the account linked to the card, and for credit cards, the accumulated amount is automatically deducted from the next month’s payment.
Prepaid rechargeable cards (including mobile cards and physical cards) can be recharged by the amount accumulated through the card company’s app.
Personal usage details, including K-Pass points, can be checked on the K-Pass app and website (korea-pass.kr).
Meanwhile, in cooperation with Gyeonggi-do and Incheon City, the Daekwang Committee also launched the K Pass-Gyeonggi (The Gyeonggi Pass) and K Pass-Incheon (Incheon I-Pass) projects on the 1st, which provide additional benefits to Gyeonggi and Incheon residents who use the K-Pass. It will be implemented from
Kang Hee-eop, Chairman of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Public Transportation Committee, said, “In a situation where a national response to the increasingly serious climate crisis is needed, we encourage the use of public transportation, which is strengthening its importance as a sustainable transportation method due to its low carbon emissions, and the burden of public transportation costs in times of high inflation. “We are finally launching the K-Pass, which has been sought to simultaneously achieve the policy goal of alleviating .”
He added, “We plan to consult with about 40 local governments that are not participating in the project so that more people can receive the benefits of the K-Pass, and to regularly listen to users’ opinions and reflect them in policies to create an easy and convenient usage environment.”Reporter Nam Gi-woong, Mobile Reporting Department nkw778@hanmail.net
