Anchor: The upcoming Lunar New Year, or Seollal, holiday period will be shorter compared to last year, however, holiday traffic is expected to be just as severe, if not worse, as more than 27 million people across the country are expected to travel.
Rosyn Park reports.
 
Report: The transport ministry released a forecast on Tuesday showing that 27-point-eight million people will likely travel during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Daily average traffic is expected to reach around eight-point-three million trips during the six days from February 13 to 18, designated as a special traffic measures period. 

Thirty-one-point-four percent plan to travel domestically or abroad during the holiday, of which 89-point-four percent were looking to travel within the country, many by car.

A ministry official said because so many people are expected to travel around in a shorter period of time, there will be more congestion and longer travel times.

Road and traffic authorities predict that holiday traffic will first peak on the morning of Sunday, February 15, two days before Lunar New Year Day. 

And compared to previous years, drivers should expect to add up to at least 15 minutes to their drive times if departing from the capital region. 

According to transport ministry estimates, it will take an average three and a half hours to drive from Seoul to Daejeon, five and a half hours to get to Gwangju, and seven hours to reach Busan.
    
But the roads returning to Seoul will likely be much more congested.
 
From the afternoon of the 17th, authorities anticipate that capital-bound drivers will be on the road for more than five hours if departing from Daejeon, nearly nine hours from Gwangju and at least 10 hours from Busan.
 
In order to ease traffic and accommodate travelers, operations of buses, trains, airplanes and passenger ferries will be increased by 12-point-seven percent and the number of seats by nine-point-seven percent.

For those who decide to hit the roads, expressway tolls will be waived from February 15 through 18.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.