Seoul's Han River Bus (์์๋ฒ์ค) launched with massive fanfare as Mayor Oh Se-hoon's flagship urban mobility project, but Koreans have been roasting it online for being slow, expensive, and poorly connected to other transit โ this race perfectly captures all those criticisms in one viral story.
So I kept hearing all these horror stories about the Han River Bus โ Seoul's shiny new water taxi that Mayor Oh Se-hoon basically staked his legacy on โ and I had to find out for myself. Was it actually that slow? That useless? I decided the only way to settle this was a full-on race: me on a Ttareungi public rental bike vs. the Han River Bus, same start point, same finish line. Let's go.
The course: Yeouido East Dock โ Jamsil Dock. Scheduled departure 4:05 PM, both of us at the same time. I'm a regular dude in my 20s โ not an athlete, not a couch potato, just a normal guy who can hold his own on a bike.
I rolled up to Yeouinaru Station and bro, there were SO many people out. Took about 5 minutes on foot to get from the station to the Han River Bus dock. I could already see the ferry sitting there, waiting. My trusty Ttareungi was locked and loaded. Let's get it.
Exceptโฆ the boat didn't leave at 4:05. Or 4:06. Or 4:10. It just sat there. Was it giving me a head start out of pity?? Finally at 4:11 PM, we were BOTH off. (I filmed it but the footage got deleted, my bad, just trust me on this.)
First obstacle: Yeouido Han River Park is an absolute warzone on weekends. Kids running into the bike lane, wide two-person rental bikes taking up the whole path, little ones on wobbly bikes who could swerve into you at any second โ it was genuinely chaotic. Oh, and my Ttareungi's bell was broken (classic Ttareungi behavior fr fr), so every time I needed to pass someone I had to literally yell out loud "PASSING! PASSING!" I wanted to disappear.
Still, boats take time to get up to speed, so early on I was actually pulling ahead. By the time I hit Wonhyo Bridge and was halfway across Hangang Railway Bridge, the ferry was still visibly behind me. I thought this was gonna be easy.
Spoiler: it was not easy.
The boat hit its stride around Hangang Railway Bridge and started pulling away hard. Then came the hill section between Hangang Bridge and Dongjak Bridge on the south bank path โ my speed tanked, the ferry did not care, and suddenly I couldn't even see it anymore. Was this really how it was gonna end?
But here's where it got interesting. The Han River Bus has stops โ Yeouido โ Apgujeong โ Oksu โ Ttukseom โ Jamsil. And anyone who knows Seoul geography can see the problem: all those stops are clustered in the Apgujeong-to-Jamsil stretch. That means the only long open-water sprint the ferry gets is Yeouido to Apgujeong. If it couldn't build a massive lead there, it was cooked.
And it didn't. Around 4:38 PM, near Hannam Bridge, the ferry slowed down to dock at Apgujeong Station โ and I blew right past it. Re-overtake secured. ๐ค From that point on, every stop was another chance for me to extend my lead while the boat sat there loading passengers.
After that, the ferry basically disappeared behind me. Nothing worth photographing. I rolled into the Tancheon stream area (the Gangnam-gu / Songpa-gu border) at 4:58 PM โ and I could see Jamsil Sports Complex across the water. Almost there.
Small problem: the direct bike path across Tancheon was under construction, so I had to detour south to find a crossing. Free handicap for the ferry, I guess. Even with that detour, I pulled up to Jamsil Dock at 5:05 PM.
The ferry? Nowhere in sight. I returned my Ttareungi, walked over to the dock building at a leisurely pace, checked out the CU convenience store and the BBQ Chicken restaurant upstairs (Mayor Oh apparently claims these food vendors will cover 75% of operating costs โ lmaooo good luck with that) โ and the Han River Bus still had 25 MINUTES until arrival.
I ate Han River ramen while I waited. Iconic.
Then came the final twist. My plan was to take the Han River Bus BACK to Yeouido โ seemed poetic, right? Nope. It was a weekend, the numbered tickets were already sold out way before I got there. Completely cooked. I had to walk 1km to Jamsil Saenae Station to catch the subway instead. And honestly? That 1km walk told me everything about how badly the Han River Bus fails at connecting to other transit. There's no easy transfer. You're just stranded at a dock.
Final result: Ttareungi by an absolute landslide. It wasn't even a race by the end.
And now I'm genuinely curious โ could I have stopped at Banpo Bridge on the way, sat down, eaten Han River ramen at a leisurely pace, and STILL beaten the ferry to Jamsil? Honestly? Probably yes.
See you next week. (Rooting for Jeong Won-oh for Seoul mayor, just putting that out there.)