Pangyo Techno Valley has been at the forefront of future urban mobility. Gyeonggi Province develop a strategic plan for smart mobility.
The era of electric bicycles has arrived after the introduction of
electric vehicles. Shared mobility applications started with automobiles and
are slowly expanding to micro-mobility options such as electric bicycles and
electric kickboards.
Companies that have jumped on ride-sharing services have entered
the market in earnest this year. Unlike automobile ride-sharing services, there
is little conflict with other stakeholders and the market for personal vehicles
capable of mid-range speed travel based on eco-friendly power is expanding.
Pangyo’s Smart Mobility Atmosphere
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| Users can rent an electric bike to get around the city ⓒKAKAO Corp |
In Gyeonggi-do, Pangyo Techno Valley has become a haven for these
devices. Here you can find the Kakao T Bike, an electric bicycle released by Kakao Mobility. With just a few clicks on the associated application, you can
access these bicycles that are tracked through a satellite navigation system
(GPS). The key characteristic of a shared electric bicycle is that it is
dockless; you don’t have to go to a separate bicycle parking area to rent and
return these bicycles.
You can check the battery levels of these bicycles through
the application, and all you need to do is to snap the QR code on these
bicycles and, with a click, the lock on the rear wheel is released, allowing
you to ride it until you wish to return it. The usage fee is KRW 1000 (roughly
USD 0.81) for the first 15 minutes and KRW 500 for every 5 minutes thereafter.
NHN employee Kim Bora (31, female), heads to a nearby gym
to work out during her lunch hour. Her gym located about 1.2 kilometers away
from the company, making it a 20-minute walk – or a 5-minute ride via the Kakao
T Bike. In situations such as these, where it is too close to drive but too far
to walk, bicycles are perfect solutions. This is an example of micro-mobility,
a personal vehicle capable of traveling short and medium distances, and these
things are changing the urban landscape of Pangyo. This trend is rapidly
spreading due to the unique atmosphere of Pangyo Techno Valley, where residents
are more open to the introduction of new things.
Micro-mobility services such as electric scooters are also
very popular in San Francisco and Silicon Valley of the United States. In July
2019, a smart mobility company, Lime, attracted more than USD 300 million in investments from Google and Uber. At the time, the venture capital industry had
dismissed “micro-mobility” as a trend.
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| Micro mobility services operating in the Silicon Valley of the United States |
These services also help relieve the inconveniences of having to take a bus or taxi to an IT company located in a remote location away from the center of Pangyo. It’s an ideal solution to the problem of the “last mile” (the last step to get to a destination). These smart mobility devices can be used when traveling to and from Pangyo for business. According to Jeong Joohwan, the CEO of Kakao Mobility, the Kakao T Bike complements short-distance travel in ways that conventional transportation does not, and will be adopted as a practical personalized vehicle.
Smart mobility also opens doors to new business
opportunities for IT companies. This is why Silicon Valley companies like Google
and Uber, as well as global automakers such as GM and Ford, are entering the
field of smart mobility. Electric scooter-sharing companies in the US such as
Bud, Lime and Spin have already grown enormously. Market research firms predict
that the electric scooter and motorcycle market, which was valued at USD 15.5 billion (about KRW 17.62 trillion) in 2017, will increase in value to USD 22 billion (about KRW 25 trillion) by 2024.
The spread of smart mobility has become inevitable. Kakao
Mobility plans to increase the number of bicycles, which currently number in
the 1,000s, to 3,000 units in the second half of this year. In addition to
Seongnam City (Pangyo) and Yeonsu-gu of Incheon City, government authorities
have decided to expand the service to other local autonomies.
On top of these shared electric micro-mobility devices,
Pangyo is also home to Korea’s first autonomous vehicles. In Pangyo Techno Valleys 1 and 2, an autonomous vehicle complex has been built to provide
support for the autonomous vehicle industry. It is a testbed for an actual
environment in which people and general-purpose autonomous vehicles can
coexist.
The Zero Shuttle, the nation’s first public autonomous
vehicle, was developed by Gyeonggi Province to address provincial traffic problems.
This driverless bus is equipped with LiDAR technology for seamless object
recognition in all directions as well as communication terminals and antennas
to share autonomous driving information such as road, safety and signal data
with an integrated control center.
Gyeonggi-do Smart Mobility Vision and Strategy
The Gyeonggi Provincial Government has established the
“Gyeonggi-do Smart Mobility Vision and Strategy” to foster a smart mobility
ecosystem without traffic jams or fine airborne dust. The plan is to reduce air pollution caused by traffic congestion and automobile exhaust by establishing
an environment in which smart mobility, a “green, pollution-free transportation
system,” can be used easily at a low cost.
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| Gyeonggi-do develop a strategic plan for smart mobility |
It is expected that infrastructure related to smart mobility will
be developed in various parts of Pangyo, thereby enabling the easy operation of
shared electric kickboards and bicycles.
“As you can often see, people are using electric
kickboards and bicycles for short-distance travel. Smart mobility is a
pollution-free transportation method utilizing electricity, and is noted as a
revolutionary alternative that can reduce air pollution caused by urban traffic
congestion and automobile emissions,” said Gyeonggi Province Spokesperson Kim
Yong-gi. “According to a report, smart mobility is expected to see the sale of 200,000 units in 2020, growing at an annual average of 12.8% from 60,000 units in 2016.”
There are three promotion strategies for smart mobility:
establishing a systematic foundation for mobility activation; creating a
sensational mobility-use environment for daily life; and introducing smart
mobility alternatives at public facilities such as subway stations.
The province plans to develop guidelines for driving
safety and road conditions through research services, to adopt standard designs
for smart mobility parking lots in Gyeonggi-do, and to select and design pilot
districts. Provincial authorities are endeavoring to install smart
mobility-exclusive parking lots equipped with sunshades, chargers, CCTV
systems, and Wi-Fi coverage at major public facilities in the metropolitan
area, such as train stations, bus stops, public buildings, museums, and art
galleries.
In addition, smart mobility parking lots will be included
in the design plans of 150 schools that are in the process of constructing
indoor gymnasiums. These schools will also have storage solutions for storing
smart mobility devices and protective equipment.
With this, Gyeonggi-do is confident that the province will
eventually become a cleaner, greener and more eco-friendly province that will
spread this culture to other regions.
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