20231103

Seoul’s Solution to ‘Hell Train’ Commutes? Standing Room Only Subway Carriages

Seoul plans to experiment with removing seats on some of its subway trains to reduce congestion on its metro system, sometimes dubbed “hell trains” by locals because of their crowdedness.

Seoul Metro, which operates the network, said Nov. 1 it will remove seats on two compartments on subway lines 4 and 7 each starting in January during rush hour, freeing up 12.6 square meters (136 square feet) of space. The normal capacity of a carriage is 160 people, it said.

Line 4 runs from the city’s southwest to the northeast through the main Seoul station, and Line 7 from north to south. The two lines currently have congestion rates of 193.4% and 164.2%, respectively, and the operator hopes to reduce the numbers to 153.4% and 130.1%. The South Korean capital’s metro system is one of the busiest in the world and carried 4.3 million passengers daily on average last year, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Seoul isn’t the first city to try such a method to reduce overcrowding. Bangkok’s Mass Rapid Transit Authority started trialling removing seats on some carriages in 2017. Taipei’s mayor said this year that its plan was working, and it will proceed to remove more seats on the brown Wenhu line.

Separately, South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety also announced on Nov. 2 that the government recently completed the development of an AI-based system to predict congestion on subway platforms, which will be piloted on the Seoul subway this month. The system monitors metrics such as how many people are standing on platforms and boarding and disembarking at gates, and in the case of an unexpected surge measures will be taken to relieve congestion.

EK: Sounds like a good plan. Much better than earlier suggestions.

The Workplace is Becoming More Political as Gen Z Comes of Age

The workplace has long been seen as a place where Republicans and Democrats set aside their differences to accomplish shared goals. But that ideal is fading among younger generations, who are often the most outspoken about their beliefs and are most likely to want to work with colleagues and leaders that share them.

Once considered taboo, talking politics at the watercooler is now quite common, especially among Gen Z. Three in five US workers have discussed politics with coworkers over the last year, according to a report published Thursday by employer review platform Glassdoor Inc.

Political conversations have been getting more fraught for years: A 2021 Pew survey found that Americans were more frustrated and stressed than years past when discussing politics with those they disagree with. As the 2024 election cycle approaches and conversations around the Israel-Hamas war grow increasingly polarized, ideological divides are deepening. The challenges facing chief executive officers leading politically diverse workforces will likely grow more acute.

Nearly half of Gen Z workers would not apply for a job at a company where the CEO supports a political candidate they disagree with. That contrasts with older generations: About 40% of millennials and only about 30% of Gen X and Baby Boomers say that a CEO’s politics would influence their decision.

Younger workers are also most likely to say they feel supported when their company takes a public stand on an issue they care about: That’s true for about 70% of Gen Z and millennials, relative to about 60% of Gen X and 50% of Baby Boomers.

To be sure, Glassdoor Chief Economist Aaron Terrazas said it’s “impossible to say definitively” whether the poll’s findings are due to genuine generational differences or “more enduring age-specific effects.” For example, the share of people who vote tends to increase with age.

“It’s not unusual for young people to be politically engaged, and also we know that the formative experiences of young adulthood enduringly shape our attitudes about social norms,” he said in an email.

For younger generations, politics have become increasingly existential. From climate change to gun violence to threats to the LGBTQ community to the preservation of democracy itself, the stakes are higher than ever. For some, that leaves little room for compromise.

“More so than either Gen X or millennials, Gen Z has come of age at a particularly fractious moment for American society, and the tumultuous experiences of the past few years will likely cast a long shadow over their lives and careers,” he said.

EK: Opinionated, outspoken, all fine. Sounds like hippies from the 70s except for being fancier. History repeats itself. Btw, can my paper get some attention given the circumstances?