Promotion of Designated Bicycle and Electric Kickboard Lanes on Seoul City Roads

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The operation of a 'designated lane system' allowing small personal mobility devices (PM), such as bicycles and electric kickboards, to be used on roads in Seoul is being promoted. Measures against electric kickboards, which cause inconvenience by being scattered randomly on the streets, and plans to facilitate enforcement by attaching front license plates to motorcycles are also being discussed.

On the occasion of 'Pedestrian Day (November 11),' Seoul City signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the morning of the 10th and announced a 'Comprehensive Plan for Pedestrian Safety Improvement.' The city will first promote a revision of the law to designate the rightmost lane of roads with three or more lanes as a designated lane for bicycles and others. The designated lane will be used by bicycles and PMs, but automobiles traveling at less than 20 km/h will also be allowed to use it.

Additionally, starting next year, charging docks and auxiliary facilities for kickboards will be installed near subway station entrances to safely manage shared kickboards, which have been parked and left disorderly until now. If effects such as improved pedestrian convenience appear through pilot projects at 1 to 5 stations, the scale will be expanded. Along with this, to block illegal acts of two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycles) that threaten pedestrians by passing on sidewalks or obstruct pedestrian traffic, a related law revision will be promoted to allow the attachment of front license plates to two-wheeled vehicles.

Furthermore, for the convenient movement of pedestrians, the city plans to expand the installation of diagonal crosswalks from 120 locations to 240 by 2023, and complete the installation of CCTV to eradicate illegal parking and speeding cameras in front of elementary schools by the first half of next year. In child, elderly, and disabled protection zones and residential area side streets, safety standards will be further strengthened by lowering the speed limit from the current 30 km/h to 20 km/h.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.