Seoul climbs to fifth place in global public-transport satisfaction survey

In the latest Time Out global public-transport survey, Seoul was ranked fifth, improving three spots from its eighth-place finish last year. The questionnaire, answered by more than 24,000 people worldwide, showed that 91.1% of Seoul respondents gave the system a positive rating. The assessment praised the subway’s cleanliness, the availability of underground phone service and fares that begin at 1,550 won when using a transit card.

All 262 stations on Lines 1 through 8 have platform safety screen doors, and a multi-year project completed in 2025 added elevators to all 338 stations managed by Seoul Metro. In 2025 the network carried an average of 6.69 million passengers per day on Lines 1-8, a 1.3% increase over the prior year, and the city introduced a Climate Pass offering fare refunds and youth discounts.