According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

Level 4 self-driving taxis may hit the roads of Seoul as early as August next year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Thursday that it has partnered with Seoul Metropolitan Government and Hyundai Motor Co. for test operation and technical demo of Level 4 self-driving RoboRide service on congested roads in the districts of Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu of southern Seoul.

Transportation minister Won Hee-ryong and Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon have become the first passengers for an unmanned drive around Gangnam.

They have agreed to inspect the self-driving technology and its safety ahead of the official service launch for the public. Cooperation will continue to commercialize autonomous public transportation by 2025 and open an entire Level 4 self-driving era by 2027.

The transport ministry and Hyundai Motor plan to provide the RoboRide service for the general public for free in August. Service reservation, car-hailing and route designation will be available on the mobile application.

Test drive is available for six hours a day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to minimize the inconvenience to citizens. A human driver sits on the driver’s seat for emergencies, and maximum three passengers are allowed to get in the car at the same time.

The RoboRide self-driving taxi is capable of changing lane, turning left or right and making U-turns on roads with large buses and pedestrians nearby. It has no fixed routes and can freely change courses to better respond to the traffic situation in real time.

Two cars will be deployed during the test drive, and Hyundai Motor plans to add more with technology upgrades. Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand the test to 32 roads of 76.1 km next year from 26 of 48.8 km this year.

The transport ministry aims to increase test drive areas as well to one or more in each city or province by 2025.

Cooperative-Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) will be supported with precision road maps, and about 1.1 trillion won will be spent for research and development to move up the Level 4 self-driving era.

“Future mobility roadmap will be announced this summer for the country’s leap towards a global leader in future mobility by 2030,” said Won in a press release.

By Lee Ha-yeon

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (June 9, 2022)