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Regional differences in bus-boarding customs have become a topic of online discussion after footage showed television host Yoo Jae-suk looking bewildered when a city bus drove past a stop in Incheon where he was waiting.
Numerous accounts followed, describing how in some areas simply standing at a stop is not enough — passengers must actively signal their intent to board by waving a hand or stepping toward the roadway. In Incheon, complaints about buses failing to stop accounted for the largest share of grievances filed over city bus service.
According to Incheon's tally of city bus complaints released on the 30th, buses passing stops without stopping accounted for 4,004 cases last year, or 37.9% of all complaints — the largest category. Discourteous service followed with 2,238 cases (21.2%), reckless driving with 1,213 cases (11.5%), refusal to board with 989 cases (9.4%) and failure to keep to scheduled intervals with 371 cases (3.5%).
The problem has also been raised repeatedly in Gyeonggi Province. At a July briefing by the transportation bureau to the construction and transportation committee of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, council member Oh Jin-taek said that even when no passengers are waiting at a stop, drivers are supposed to stop first, check the situation and then depart — yet many buses still ignore this and drive past.
Waiting 10 Minutes, Only to Watch It Drive Past
The episode of SBS's "Teumman Namyeon" (literally "Whenever There's a Chance") that aired the previous day followed hosts Yoo Jae-suk and Yoo Yeon-seok, along with guest actors Byun Yo-han and Noh Jae-won, as they toured sites around Incheon.
In a YouTube clip released ahead of the broadcast, the cast waited for a city bus at a stop in Incheon to travel to their next destination.
About 10 minutes later, the bus they had been waiting for approached the stop, and the cast moved to the front of the platform to board. The bus, however, drove straight past without stopping.
Caught off guard, the cast reacted with surprise, noting that the bus had simply passed by. "Do you have to wave your hand to catch a bus in Incheon?" Yoo Jae-suk said. "This is bewildering."
After watching other passengers board a later bus, he observed that drivers stop only when riders signal their intent clearly.
Boarding Customs Vary by Region
Once the clip was released, online users shared similar experiences. Residents of Incheon said that at quiet stops like that one, riders have to signal with their bodies that they intend to board, and that waving a hand is essential.
Such experiences were not limited to Incheon. One user said the same holds in northern Gyeonggi Province, noting that while some drivers stop without a signal, buses will drive past anyone not standing at the front of the stop.
Others described similar conditions in Pangyo and in Gimpo, next to Incheon, where one user said buses pass by even riders standing at the stop if they are looking at their phones, and that waving is necessary.
Residents of areas where buses stop at every platform, by contrast, said they found the practice unfamiliar. Comments included accounts of moving from Seoul to Gyeonggi Province and being startled to find buses would not stop without a wave, and of Busan, where buses stop at every platform even when no one is waiting.
