Reservations for "low-floor bus boarding " to be available through the app

[Smart City Today]

SK Group's social contribution foundation, The Happiness Foundation (Chairman Choi Ki-won), announced that it has signed a business agreement with Daejeon Metropolitan City (Mayor Lee Jang-woo), Shinhyup Social Contribution Foundation (Chairman Kim Yoon-sik), and Wezon Co-op (Chairman Ahn Jung-sik) to "establish a low-floor bus boarding reservation system and provided the service for the mobility handicapped."

According to the agreement, four institutions will cooperate to develop the low-floor bus boarding reservation system (hereinafter referred to as the system).

The system sends an alarm to the bus driver when a wheelchair user checks the arrival information of a low-floor bus through an app or website and applies for a boarding reservation.

The driver who receives the alarm determines the location of the stop in consideration of the lift and provides prior guidance to existing passengers to support the smooth boarding of wheelchair users.

In addition, for the first time in local governments, real-time communication between drivers and passengers is available so that they can respond to various situations actively.

The introduction of the system is expected to drastically reduce the waiting time and bus boarding time for wheelchair users and greatly contribute to the improvement of mobility for the weak.

The Sesang File team of The Happiness Foundation has been pushing for a project to improve the mobility of wheelchair users since 2021.

To this end, we worked with Muui Co-op and LBS tech to collect information on routes, store entrances, and amenities necessary for wheelchair movement and develop a dedicated navigation system.

The key to this agreement is to provide "integrated" information and services necessary for wheelchair movement by linking public transportation low-floor bus reservation systems to navigation.

Earlier this year, the project was confirmed to be effective in cooperation with Wezon, which has related technology, and the project was promoted as the Shinhyup Social Contribution Foundation, which sympathized with the need for the project, participated in the project and Daejeon Metropolitan City expressed its intention to cooperate, including providing public data.

The low-floor bus boarding reservation service is scheduled to be launched officially in the second half of next year after pilot operation in some parts of central Daejeon.

The Sesang File plans to collaborate with local governments and social ventures to create a leading case for creating a barrier-free traffic environment.

Lee Sang-hyun, head of the Sesang File division at the Happiness Sharing Foundation said, "In order to improve the convenience of the mobility handicapped citizens, it is essential to create a system that is easy to use public transportation," and "We expect this agreement to create best practices in Daejeon."

Meanwhile, the supply of low-floor buses for wheelchair users is really tardy in Korea.

In Seoul alone, the penetration rate of low-floor buses exceeded 50%, but in other local governments such as Daejeon, the penetration rate of low-floor buses is low at less than 30%.

This is why local governments should more actively introduce low-floor buses for the disabled and elderly.