Yeonggwang-gun to Conduct 'Personal Mobility Demonstration Project' Until December

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeon Seong] Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim Jun-seong) announced on the 2nd that it will conduct a demonstration project for personal mobility devices such as electric bicycles and electric kickboards over a total distance of 10.6 km on the bicycle-only road in Ippam-ri, Beopseong, and the Bulgapsa tourist area until December.

The county is promoting the ‘Jeonnam e-Mobility Regulatory Free Zone’ project, which started in August last year and will run for two years with a total investment of 40.7 billion KRW, to foster the e-mobility industry as a regional innovation growth industry.

The main projects include ▲development of safety enhancement technologies for e-mobility such as electric bicycles, personal mobility devices (PM), and ultra-small electric vehicles ▲support for e-mobility companies ▲legislative maintenance and traffic impact analysis ▲deriving improvement plans for road facility standards.

Nineteen related companies, including those specializing in electric bicycles, PM, and ultra-small electric vehicles, are participating in the e-mobility research and development project. To support the special zone project, Jeonnam Technopark, Korea Automotive Technology Institute, Korea Smart e-Mobility Association, and Korea Construction Living Environment Testing Institute are also involved.

Following the recent partial amendment of the Road Traffic Act, driving licenses are exempted for operating personal mobility devices, and riding on bicycle-only roads has become possible. However, detailed enforcement rules and operational regulations, certification standards, and safety standards for products, education, and insurance remain insufficient.

Through this demonstration, if the safety of throttle-type electric bicycles and personal mobility devices riding on bicycle-only roads is secured, products that have proven this will be supplied to the market, allowing users to use the products with confidence.

The demonstration will allow general public testers to participate from mid-this month, and applications can be submitted via Albamon, Albacheonguk, or the official website.

A county official said, “Based on the demonstration data collected through the ‘e-Mobility Regulatory Free Zone,’ we will continue consultations with related agencies such as the National Police Agency and do our best to create a safe e-mobility usage environment by establishing safety and operational standards for e-mobility.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.