Starting Tomorrow, Check Subway Car Congestion in Advance with T-map

T-map Public Transportation, Seoul Metropolitan Subway Lines 1 to 8 Targeted

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgi Na Cho] SK Telecom announced on the 14th that it will provide, for the first time in Korea, predicted congestion information for each subway car through the integrated navigation, bus, and subway information service application ‘T map Public Transportation’.

This service will be applied through an update to the ‘T map Public Transportation’ app starting from the 15th. It will initially be available for Seoul Metropolitan Subway Lines 1 to 8, and will later be expanded to lines in the metropolitan area where it is not yet applied.

Users can instantly check the congestion level of each car with a single click using four color stages: green, yellow, orange, and red. ‘Green’ indicates that there is ample space inside the car, while ‘red’ means that standing passengers’ shoulders are pressed together, making movement impossible. Additionally, if all cars have the same congestion level, a ‘recommendation’ feature will inform users of the two cars with slightly more space.

SK Telecom prepared this service to enable passengers to use the subway more safely and in a distributed manner by checking the congestion level of each car before boarding, amid growing interest in ‘social distancing’ due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19.

In particular, the company added that by expanding the data analysis area through system advancement, the accuracy of congestion pattern information has been improved, and the service was enhanced by analyzing feedback from over 10,000 customers. Furthermore, a satisfaction star rating feature was newly added to the service screen to more quickly reflect customer feedback on the service.

Meanwhile, the recent update of ‘T map Public Transportation’ also added features to improve user convenience, including ▲providing first and last bus times at each stop for bus routes in Seoul and the metropolitan area, and ▲guidance on major public transportation-related accident situations, in addition to the subway car congestion service.

Lee Jong-ho, head of SK Telecom’s Mobility Business Unit, said, “By utilizing 5G networks, real-time data processing, and artificial intelligence (AI) analysis technology, we plan to provide congestion services in real time next year,” and added, “We will continue to introduce customer-tailored mobility services such as ‘T map Public Transportation’.”

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