The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday that public transportation will be scaled back 20 percent during late night hours past 10 p.m. in accordance with stepped-up social distancing rules.

It will apply to buses from Saturday and the subway from next Friday. 

The over 570 downtown bus routes in the capital city will each run one to two fewer times per day. Subways will cut down on daily trips from 161 to 128.

However, transportation authorities will be flexible in crowd control by increasing operations if necessary. Late night bus and taxi services will be maintained to enable essential means of transportation.