'Autonomous Taxi' Roams Gangnam Downtown... Oh Se-hoon Boards as First Passenger

Oh Se-hoon and Minister Won Hee-ryong Ride as First Passengers in Autonomous Taxi... 'RoboRide' Unveiled Through Public-Private Collaboration Including Seoul City, Ministry of Land, and Hyundai
Expansion to 76.1km Across Gangnam, Including Gangnam-daero and Teheran-ro, by 2023

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government, together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Hyundai Motor Company, is announcing the launch of the autonomous taxi "RoboRide Service" in the complex Gangnam area, marking the beginning of the full-scale urban autonomous driving era. RoboRide is designed not as a shuttle bus operating on fixed routes but to autonomously find the real-time shortest route according to the passenger's departure and destination points.

On the 9th, Seoul City announced that through the first operation of RoboRide, it will complete autonomous vehicle technology and provide multifaceted support so that citizens can use it as a transportation means in their daily lives. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also boarded the autonomous RoboRide as the 'first passenger' on the same day to promote the autonomous driving service, and together with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, departed from the Lucent Tower, Hyundai AutoEver building in Gangnam, and conducted a final inspection while traveling the Teheran-ro loop route (POSCO Intersection~Seolleung Station~Renaissance Hotel).

Seoul City, along with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Hyundai Motor Company, plans to conduct a beta service period for two months with experts and autonomous driving stakeholders onboard, and from August, gradually allow citizens to use the service. The city will start this year with a total of 26 roads covering 48.8 km including Teheran-ro, Gangnam-daero, Yeongdong-daero, Eonju-ro, and Nambu Sunhwan-ro, and next year expand the operation area to 32 roads (76.1 km) including Dosan-daero and Apgujeong-ro.

Seoul City has actively supported autonomous driving operations together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Since 2020, it has built and operated a traffic signal open infrastructure that provides autonomous vehicles with real-time traffic light colors at 0.1-second intervals at a total of 132 intersections, as well as the remaining time until the next signal change.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, “Seoul has announced the Autonomous Driving 2030 Vision, presenting a future that changes citizens' lives and urban spaces by providing autonomous driving infrastructure such as traffic signal information and creating various demonstration environments,” and added, “We will spare no effort to actively support citizens to experience advanced autonomous driving technology.”

Gangnam Roboride Operation Areas and Roads

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