After High-Intensity Social Distancing... "Commute 'Ddareungi' Usage Increased 1.8 Times"

Seoul Public Bicycle 'Ddareungi' (Source=Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] A study has found that the number of users of Seoul's public bicycles, "Ddareungi," significantly increased after the implementation of social distancing measures.

The research team at Yonsei University's Barun ICT Research Center announced on the 23rd that they published the analysis results of Seoul's public bicycle Ddareungi user data before and after the implementation of "intensive social distancing" in the international academic journal "Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health."

The research team used Seoul's public data to compare and analyze the number of Ddareungi users for 10 days after the implementation of intensive social distancing (March 22) following the outbreak of COVID-19 with previous data (January 1 to March 21) and data from the same period last year. They also statistically verified the effect of intensive social distancing by controlling for temporal variables, considering that Ddareungi usage could naturally increase as the weather warmed.

Detailed analysis showed that after the implementation of intensive social distancing, the number of new renters, users during commuting hours (6-9 AM and 6-9 PM), and weekend users all significantly increased compared to before. The average daily number of users before the implementation of intensive social distancing in March this year was 45,452, which increased to 77,966 after implementation, about 1.7 times more. During the same period, commuting hour users increased from 9,862 to an average of 16,889 per day after social distancing, nearly 1.8 times more, and weekend users also rose from an average of 47,728 to 79,520 per day. New registrations increased more than threefold from an average of 2,391 to 5,484 per day.

The research team explained that the increase in commuting hour users "proves that citizens voluntarily sought individual transportation alternatives to public transportation during social distancing." They analyzed that the increase in weekend users reflects more personal physical activities rather than various gatherings or group activities, and considering that physical activity positively affects not only physical but also mental health, this is a very desirable outcome for maintaining the health of the public.

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