The Atlantic

Can Free Public Transit Fix South Korea's Smog Problem?

It’s a costly move that has only produced meager results in other cities.
Source: Lee Jae-Won / Reuters

When it comes to air pollution, China gets most of the attention as one of Asia’s worst offenders (and rightly so). But South Korea has a massive pollution problem of its own, earning the unenviable title of worst air quality among OECD nations—and experts predict the problem will only get worse over the next five years.

So when a thick layer of yellow dust settled over the city last week, local leaders took a drastic step to confront it: declaring an air quality emergency and, for the first time ever, giving commuters free rides

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