[Anchor]

Gangneung, which is preparing for the ITS World Congress—often called the Olympics of intelligent transportation systems—this coming October, has launched a demonstration of demand-responsive buses. The "City Call Bus" can be thought of as a concept midway between conventional call taxis and village buses. Travel for both citizens and tourists is expected to become much more convenient moving forward.

G1 Broadcasting, Reporter Kim Ki-tae.


[Reporter]

In July of last year, Gangneung introduced autonomous Masil buses to under-served remote routes within the region.

Autonomous vehicles were deployed on the Masil bus routes to resolve public mobility blind spots using cutting-edge technology.

Passengers were able to hail a Masil bus via a QR code or by calling a call center, receiving an enthusiastic response.

Following the operation of autonomous Masil buses, Gangneung has now embarked on a free demonstration project for City Call Buses.

Two 12-seater buses have been deployed, operating across two routes: from Anmok Beach to the Yeongok-myeon Office, and from Gangmun Beach to the Gangneung Arena.

When passengers call a bus through a dedicated app or the call center, up to 12 people can board.

Operating free of charge daily from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, passengers can board and alight only at designated stops where existing city tour buses operate, distinguishing it from call taxis.

This complimentary demonstration began as a follow-up measure to the agreement on the operation of autonomous demand-responsive transport systems in transport-vulnerable areas, which Gangneung signed last February.

[Lim Sin-hyuk / Head of ITS Promotion Division: By actively reflecting the feedback of citizens and tourists during the operation process, we will verify a demand-responsive transport model tailored to Gangneung and link it to unmanned autonomous driving demonstrations in the future.]

Ahead of the ITS World Congress in October, Gangneung is leaping forward as a leading city for cutting-edge mobility by providing autonomous driving technology and demand-responsive services.

(Video Journalist: Won Jong-chan, G1) G1, Kim Ki-tae