Subway Elevator Expansion... Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Finalizes 27 Regulatory Improvement Tasks

Citizens are heading to work wearing masks at Sindorim Station in Guro-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 17th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 19th that the 7th Regulatory Innovation Deliberation Committee and the Proactive Administration Committee, which include private experts such as economic organizations and legal professionals, reviewed and approved 27 regulatory innovation and proactive administration tasks.

First, regulations on facilities that can be installed within the width of urban railway platforms will be relaxed. Currently, due to regulations restricting the installation of facilities within a certain distance from the subway platform edge, elevators often cannot be installed due to station structure.

For example, under the current guidelines, only safety facilities can be installed within 1.5 meters from the platform edge, so Sangildong Station, which has a clearance of 1.38 meters, can only install pillars and stairs, making elevators impossible and causing inconvenience to passengers.

Going forward, to improve mobility convenience for transportation-vulnerable groups, elevators and similar facilities can be installed if it is recognized that elevator installation is necessary even in such cases.

Additionally, regulations restricting the installation of road safety facilities will also be relaxed. Currently, road "pyojibyeong" (marker posts) can only be installed in the vertical direction. The use of marker posts in the horizontal direction on roads is prohibited due to concerns about driver confusion and tire damage accidents. Marker posts refer to visual guidance facilities installed on roads.

However, since some local governments such as Gangseo-gu and Gwangjin-gu in Seoul have installed and operated marker posts in the horizontal direction and confirmed their safety, installation of horizontal marker posts will be allowed in crosswalks within child and elderly protection zones going forward.

The transportation facility burden charges for metropolitan area remodeling projects will also be improved. Currently, metropolitan area remodeling projects do not exclude the previous building gross floor area when calculating the wide-area transportation facility burden charge, so charges are imposed on both the increased area and the previous gross floor area.

In contrast, redevelopment, reconstruction projects, and small-scale housing maintenance projects impose charges only on the increased building gross floor area during project implementation.

Therefore, the government decided to impose charges only on the increased building gross floor area due to remodeling projects when calculating the wide-area transportation burden charge, excluding the previous building gross floor area.

Furthermore, there was confusion due to the lack of specific installation standards for safety fences (railings) installed in the external stair connection spaces of stations constructed as elevated structures above ground, but going forward, the standards will be clarified to resolve local government confusion and prevent pedestrian safety accidents.

Finally, the public housing district security management guidelines will be improved to activate public interest reporting. Currently, the security pledge for public housing districts unconditionally includes a clause prohibiting objections to penalties for security violations, which could conflict with confidentiality obligations in corruption and public interest reporting.

In the future, the clause prohibiting objections will be deleted from the security pledge form, and a clear exemption clause stating that confidentiality obligations are not violated in cases of corruption and public interest reporting will be stipulated.

The committee finalized a total of 27 regulatory improvements, including 17 regulatory innovation and proactive administration tasks and 10 preemptive regulatory innovations in the autonomous vehicle sector. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to sequentially revise related regulations by March next year.

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