Groups traveling with companies or schools will soon be able to reserve seats on Seoul's Han River Bus online in advance. The change removes the need to collect numbered tickets on a first-come, first-served basis at the pier, making the service easier to use for group tours and school field trips.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 14th that it will begin a pilot online group reservation service for the Han River Bus at the Magok and Jamsil piers from 10 a.m. on the 19th. Reserved boarding will be available starting on the 20th.
Reservations cover all weekday sailings, with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 passengers per departure. Users can search for the Magok or Jamsil pier on NAVER Map or NAVER Place, select a boarding date, route, departure time and number of passengers, and pay the fare in advance. Fares are 3,000 won for adults, 1,800 won for teenagers and 1,100 won for children.
Reservations, cancellations and refunds are accepted until 11:59 p.m. on the day before boarding. Those with reservations must arrive at the pier at least 30 minutes before departure to complete boarding procedures, including confirmation of their reservation and passenger registration.
The service was introduced to meet growing demand for group reservations as Han River Bus ridership rises. Because numbered tickets are currently handed out on-site on a first-come, first-served basis, groups have had difficulty securing seats in advance. Ridership reached 115,387 in September, topping 100,000 for the first time in a single month.
The city government plans to review the reservation, payment and boarding procedures and then consider whether to expand the service to other piers depending on user response.
"We introduced the online reservation service to address the boarding inconvenience that weekday group users have experienced," said Park Jin-young, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Future Han River Headquarters. "We will improve the service based on the results of the pilot operation."
