Spotlight on 'Sejong-Style MaaS' Integrating Eoulling and Eeung Bus Services

Connecting Fragmented Transportation Such as Buses, Taxis, and Shared Bicycles into a One-Stop Service
Kim Hyeongryeol, Head of the Administrative City Construction Agency: "Focusing Efforts on Realizing Future-Oriented Smart Transportation"

Graphic provided by the Administrative City Construction Agency

At 7:40 a.m., civil servant A, who resides in Jongchon-dong of the Administrative City, enters "Commute to Government Sejong Complex Building 6" into the MaaS app. The app analyzes the current traffic situation in real time and suggests various routes based on criteria such as minimum travel time, lowest cost, minimum transfers, and parking availability. All transportation methods needed for the journey?including buses, taxis, shared bicycles, and e-scooters?can be reserved and paid for with a single click within the MaaS app, without the need to download and use separate apps for each. The app also allows for real-time transfer notifications and route adjustments based on the actual traffic situation during the trip.

Such scenarios will soon become a reality in Sejong, the Administrative City. From its planning stage, Sejong has pursued the vision of a "public transport-oriented city" where any location within the city can be reached by public transportation in about 20 minutes. The city has built a differentiated transportation network centered on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which circulates both inside and outside the city center. This is a pioneering experiment aimed at connecting the entire city into a single, organic living zone and creating a city where people can move freely even without cars.

The transportation system of the Administrative City has demonstrated a certain level of effectiveness since residents began moving in. It has been praised for enabling fast movement within living zones and ensuring stable accessibility between key hubs even without private cars. However, there are observations that it has limitations in meeting the detailed mobility demands of citizens. Issues such as the distance to BRT stations, lack of transportation options for short trips within living zones, and vulnerability of transportation during nighttime hours have been consistently raised. MaaS (Mobility as a Service) has recently attracted attention as a solution to overcome these structural limitations.

MaaS provides the entire journey from departure to destination as "one service." It is a service model that integrates various transportation modes?rail, bus, subway, shared bicycles, shared e-scooters, demand-responsive transit (DRT), and shared vehicles?into a single platform. Previously, users had to search for destinations via a map app and make reservations or payments through separate apps for each transportation mode, which was inconvenient. MaaS integrates all these services so that everything can be handled within one app.

Currently, various transportation services in Sejong are playing their respective roles and supplementing the shortcomings of the existing transportation system. The public shared bicycle service "Eoulling" is the most representative means of transportation for short-distance travel.

Additionally, the demand-responsive "Eeung Bus," which combines the advantages of buses and taxis, guarantees at least a minimum level of mobility even in living zones not served by route buses. Since September last year, Sejong has introduced the "Eeung Pass," a monthly transportation card, marking a new milestone in promoting public transportation usage.

Any citizen aged 13 or older, according to resident registration, can use all public transportation?including Eoulling and Eeung Bus?by charging 20,000 won per month, with a maximum benefit of up to 50,000 won. The fact that subways and buses in neighboring cities such as Daejeon, Cheongju, and Gongju can also be used with just the Eeung Pass has also been well received by citizens.

Kim Hyeongryeol, head of the Administrative City Construction Agency, stated, "MaaS is not just an app service but a structural transformation that completely reorganizes urban transportation from a technology-centered to a people-centered system," adding, "We will concentrate all our efforts with relevant agencies to realize future-oriented smart transportation that can enhance the quality of life for every citizen."

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