A global institute announces Korea as an advanced country in e-Mobility

[Smart City Today]

"Korea is already a leader in e-mobility. The perception that the shared kickboard is only used by tech early adopters has already disappeared in Korea. It has become one of the main transportation methods for Seoul citizens."

Micromobility Research Partnership (hereinafter referred to as the MRP Association), a global micromobility research institute with 40 international scholars studying e-mobility, announced the research report on the behavior of Seoul's shared kickboard.

According to a survey of 500 Seoul citizens by the MPP Association, 36% of citizens said they had used a shared kickboard. Of these citizens, 19 percent were riding more than once a month.

The association said, in certain areas, it is difficult to access shared kickboards. Among Seoul citizens who can use shared kickboards within 5 minutes of walking from their residence and workplace, 50% have already used shared kickboards, 30% have used shared kickboards once a month, and 18% have used them more than once a week.

“The shared kickboard is now surpassing the existing rides like bicycles,” said Ferdinand Balfourt, senior partner at the MRP Association. “The results of the study, which only 23 percent of Koreans said they used bicycles for the past year, support this,” he said. Considering that bicycles have existed for hundreds of years, it is unusual for the popularity of shared kickboards to overtake bicycles in just two to three years, which is considered to be an advanced country of e-Mobility.

The MRP Association is an independent research institute of 40 international scholars from countries including Korea, New Zealand, and Australia. The association is working to activate micromobility and sustainable transportation research and to study the effects on health and the environment, and on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).