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Daily traffic volume increases 17.4% in 2016: ministry

By KH디지털2

Published : April 18, 2017 - 09:11

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The daily traffic volume on the nation's main roads increased 4.2 percent in 2016 from the year before, the transportation ministry said Tuesday, apparently from low oil prices coupled with more registered vehicles.

Data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were collected by counting cars passing through select sections on highways and major roads throughout the country. Results showed an average 14,525 cars using key roads on a given day.

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The traffic volume jumped 17.4 percent over the past decade, according to the ministry's survey.

The number of registered vehicles surpassed 20 million in 2014.

It then went from 20.99 million in 2015 to 21.80 million in 2016, up 3.9 percent.

Price of gasoline, on the other hand, went down from 1,405 won ($1.23) per liter in 2015 to 1,293 won the following year, a fall of 8 percent.

Passenger cars accounted for 72.1 percent of the traffic volume, followed by cargo vehicles at 25.1 percent. Buses counted for 2.7 percent.

On a monthly basis, traffic was heaviest in August, the peak vacation period. The volume, when compared with a 100 percent base, recorded 107.1 percent. May, a family month with a number of holidays, and September, the month of hometown visits for the harvest moon holiday, followed next at 104.2 percent. January was the least busy month on the roads with 87.3 percent.

Traffic volume was fairly steady Monday through Thursday but leaped starting Friday and reached 108.2 percent on Saturday.

Sunday's road traffic fell to 94.5 percent.

The most congested time of the day was from 5 to 6 p.m. (175.3 percent), while the least congested period was from 3 to 4 p.m. at 11.4 percent. (Yonhap)