Korea's second largest city is also the nation's largest port. The city of approximately 4 million is sandwiched in between the ocean and a number of steep hills. While not being the population of Seoul the city feels just as crowded because of the relatively small area the city takes up. Most major roads are significantly narrower than those in Seoul also leading to comparable traffic congestion.
To help overcome the congestion, Busan Transportation Corporation has a 3 line subway network which in many ways is like the little brother to the Seoul network. All signage and announcements is in both English and Korean, and stations are numbered in the same way as in Seoul. The trains though are 6 car (Lines 1 & 2) and 4 car (Line 3) units as opposed to the 10 and 8 car units in Seoul.
Busan buses are also very good though unlike the subway, destinations both at stops and on buses themselves are in Korean only. All buses like in Seoul are of Korean build being Hyundai and Daewoo vehicles. Unfortunately there is limited online information about Busan's buses, except for the City of Busan site which is in Korean only.
Busan buses and the subway accept cash for payment of fares, and also smart cards but do not accept the T-Money smart card system in use in the capital. The smart card accpeted in Busan is called a Hanaro Card. Fares are slightly more expensive than in Seoul.
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