This Jan. 20, 2022, file photo shows people waiting for a train at a subway station in southwestern Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s city government plans to sell the names of subway stations and bus stops to the private sector as a means to overcome its burgeoning losses.
Seoul Metro, the operator of the Seoul subway system, recently said it will begin selling the rights to endow a secondary name to some 50 subway stations on subway lines 1-8 in order to mitigate losses.
The secondary names will be inserted on some 10 locations including the name plates at entrances to the subway stations, station platforms, safety doors, and the subway map.
The naming rights for each station will be auctioned off to companies and agencies located within a one-kilometer radius of the station.
The winning bidder will be able to endow a secondary name of preference to the subway station for three years. The bidder will also have the right to extend the contract for another three years without having to rebid.
The city also plans to sell secondary naming rights for some 400 bus stops later this year and is currently working on setting pricing standards for receiving bids.
The city will analyze the average traffic at bus stops, including the number of passengers getting on/off the bus, as well as the floating population, to select the first 400 among 6,577 bus stops for the naming rights sale.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
