Autonomous Commercial Vehicles Ready To Pave In Seoul Next October

JAKARTA - Autonomous commercial vehicles will hit the streets in the western Sangam district of Seoul, South Korea in early October, the city government said Tuesday, July 20.

A new regulation by the Seoul City Government on the operation of a special zone to host a pilot project of self-driving commercial vehicles, took effect Tuesday in a bid to help accelerate the commercialization of driverless cars in the city.

Under the regulation, Seoul plans to introduce various paid public transportation services based on autonomous vehicles, such as self-driving buses.

This includes short-haul transportation services available for use via the mobile app, as well as special services intended for transportation. disabled passengers in wheelchairs throughout Sangam District.

Ahead of enforcement of the regulations, city authorities in December designated as many as 24 roads in Sangam, together covering about 6.2 square kilometers, as special zones to host autonomous transport services.

With the aim of starting the service expected in October, the City of Seoul will start recruiting self-driving transport service operators later this July.

In addition, the City Government will set up a steering committee in charge of safety regulations next month to help the service run smoothly.

The Seoul City Government also plans to dedicate a portion of the city's managed public parking lots to a pilot project, to help alleviate parking problems.

"We will turn Seoul into an innovative city with a next-generation transportation system by advancing the commercialization of driverless vehicles," said Baek Ho, a senior Seoul official in charge of urban transportation, as quoted by the Korea Times July 20.