Seoul will waive parking fees at 61 public parking facilities near major tourist destinations and commercial districts during the Chuseok holiday and implement measures for cemeteries' visitors, according to the Seoul Facilities Corp. on Friday.
Those areas include Jongmyo Shrine, Euljiro, Yeouido, Cheonho Station and Sadang Station will be open free of charge around the clock from Sept.24 to 27.
The corporation will also implement special measures at 16 city-run cemeteries and cremation facilities, which are expected to receive more than 170,000 visitors during the holiday.
About 300 employees and 200 traffic control personnel will be deployed to assist visitors and ease congestion. Free shuttle buses will operate at the city-run Yongmiri Cemetery in Paju, Gyeonggi Province from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. throughout the four-day holiday.
Beginning Wednesday, the corporation will offer a holiday congestion forecast through the Seoul Urban Expressway website. Using traffic volume and speed data from the past five Chuseok holidays, the service will provide hourly congestion forecasts for urban expressways and major arterial roads.
A new KakaoTalk channel will also provide grave locations, directions and cemetery management notices.
Authorities will inspect 12 major routes, including Olympic-daero, Gangbyeonbuk-ro and the Dongbu and Seobu expressways, and operate emergency response teams during the holiday.
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
