Songpa-gu 'Wirye New Town Shared Kickboard Parking and Stopping Pilot Project' Promotion

Local Governments (Songpa, Seongnam, Hanam) and LH Sign Agreement for Wirye New Town Shared PM Pilot Project... Exploring Shared Kickboard Parking, Safety Issues, PM Operation Environment Improvement, and Win-Win Solutions

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) is promoting a ‘Shared Personal Mobility (PM) Pilot Project’ within Wirye New Town in collaboration with Songpa-gu, Seongnam City, Hanam City, and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (hereinafter LH).

To this end, the district signed a business promotion agreement (MOU).

The district explained the background of the project, stating that due to the recent rapid increase in issues related to the parking and safety of shared electric kickboards becoming a social issue, it has prepared the ‘Shared Personal Mobility (PM) Pilot Project’ to seek solutions for parking problems and safety accidents, and to improve the PM operation environment through infrastructure maintenance.

Currently, electric kickboards (personal mobility) are allowed to travel on bicycle paths starting from the 10th due to amendments to the Road Traffic Act. Nevertheless, there are still no related laws regarding parking and operation, causing local governments to face difficulties in enforcement and handling.

Accordingly, the district plans to secure residents’ safety and establish PM operation order by promoting the ‘Shared Personal Mobility (PM) Pilot Project’ through an agreement with the local governments corresponding to Wirye New Town (Songpa-gu, Seongnam City, Hanam City) and LH.

According to this agreement, Songpa-gu, Seongnam City, Hanam City, and LH, which correspond to Wirye New Town, will jointly implement the project and verify the role and potential use of PM as a last mile means (Last Mile: the final distance from subway stations, bus stops, etc. to the final destination). The agreement was signed remotely due to COVID-19.

The ‘Shared Personal Mobility (PM) Pilot Project’ will be operated on a trial basis for one year after the agreement is signed. Each local government (Songpa, Seongnam, Hanam) will provide administrative support for PM operation in Wirye New Town, while LH will be responsible for recruiting PM operators and maintaining infrastructure (roads, related facilities) to improve the operation environment.

Through this pilot project, the district plans to analyze the usage patterns, main routes, and usage volume of shared PM within Wirye New Town to verify the potential of PM as a new transportation means and use the results to provide opinions for the establishment of PM-related laws by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the future.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “Through this pilot project, we will verify the potential of personal mobility as a new transportation means and work together with local governments to create a safe PM operation environment.” He added, “We will do our best to create a city where both users and pedestrians are safe.”

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