+ BACKGROUND, CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES
Background
The Seoul Metropolitan City, rapidly transformed into a global one within just 50 years, has emerged as one of the most influential cities for the global economy. As the city’s industrial, economic and cultural activities expanded in size and scope, the citizens reached a consensus on the need for a safe bus service operating from midnight to dawn that would support the residents’ economic activities.
Challenges
While the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has steadily introduced measures to ensure greater convenience and better mobility for its residents, the city was still facing with insufficient mobility rights for the socially and economically disadvantaged. For example, students and workers (e.g. sanitary workers or small business owners) who worked at night found it difficult to use the existing limited-time rail system.
The city was also challenged by growing problems due to late-night taxis’ refusal of passengers and illegal operation. At late night and dawn hours, the demand for mobility was higher than the supply so that taxi drivers illegally demanded extra fares or refused passengers, which caused serious inconvenience to the SMG residents.
Objectives
In response to the above-mentioned challenges, the Seoul Night Bus, also known as the Owl Bus, was established with objectives of the following:
- To improve convenience for those taking public transportation after midnight
- To lessen financial burdens on the economically disadvantaged, such as self-employed small business owners and night-shift workers
- To address citizens’ everyday concerns by customising policy measures, using big data technology
+ ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION
The pilot project was first developed through community consultation and surveys. Since 2012, the SMG has operated the “120 Dasan Call Centre” and its official blog to accommodate the public opinion, while developing various other policy measures based on the information collected by the centre. Along the way, the SMG discovered that the demand for late-night public transportation system has been a huge inconvenience for its residents. An on-site survey was conducted for approximately six months from October 2012 to investigate the problem. As a result, starting from 19 April 2013, the city government began to operate two pilot routes exclusively for an after-midnight service.
After the first pilot, the Owl Bus was expanded to cover 9 routes.
In the following three months, the service was used by 220,000 people, and the number of service routes expanded to 9.
+ OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS
The numbers of Owl Bus passengers are on a constant rise. A total of 1,735,000 people have enjoyed the service from September 2009 to June 2013, making the daily average passengers stand at approximately 7,000 on average. The bus service has also improved mobility rights for the socially and economically disadvantaged, as passengers are expected to save approximately KRW 6,000 as the Owl Bus charges KRW 1,850 per one-way trip while the average taxi fare in the same timeframe costs KRW 8,000. The savings are expected to lead to higher income redistribution. In 2013, the SMG estimated nearly KRW 14.1 billion worth of economic benefits being redistributed.
Moreover, the city safety has been improved by providing a mode of transport for people during late at night, when people are most vulnerable. The Owl Bus Service has also helped invigorate late-night activities and expanded IT-related markets. Improved post-midnight mobility has revitalised late-night activities such as late-night movies, city tours and shopping. Thus, the ability to process transactions on the move has improved passengers’ quality of life. With Wi-Fi networks on the buses, the communication industry is expected to grow further as well.
+ REPLICABILITY AND SCALABILITY
As the service is the first of its kind in Korea, policy makers have struggled to shape detailed action plans. The biggest tasks involved issues such as route selection, ensuring efficient operation while securing passenger safety. Some of the key success factors of the initiative are of the following:
- The bus system was developed in response to the public need, hence the routes were developed in response to the areas of urgently needed. Furthermore, public ownership of the Owl Bus has enhanced through community consultation and participation.
- Bus routes were selected using big data analysis of late-night calls volume. During the initial stages of mapping out operations for the night buses, the issue of selecting bus routes emerged. The municipal government colour-coded regions by call volume based on data provided by a private communication service provider, KT. Then it analysed the number of passengers who got on and off at each bus stop in the heavy call volume regions and connected the dots to develop the most pertinent routes.
- Passenger safety was the priority. In order to secure passenger safety, various measures were implemented. For example, only highly qualified drivers were paid generous wages so that they would be willing to only concentrate on their night shifts, without taking daytime jobs. Buses were also fitted with a protective partition and speeding prevention device. Mandatory inspections before driving were required as well.
- Private bus companies’ selective operation only on profitable routes was a lingering concern for the SMG. In order to solve the problem, the government worked on turning the bus operation system from private to quasi-public. With the new system, Seoul manages the bus routes and revenues while the private companies operate buses.
Policy Sharing Cases
1. (Kiev, Ukraine) Feasibility Study for Transportation Policy Establishment System based on Big Data Technology
- Project Period: June 2017 to December 2017
- Project Cost: USD 79,044
- Expected Outcome: By establishing the Seoul Smart City Model at one of the central Asian cities, which has been keen to big data policies and mobile system, SMG aims to utilise Kiev as a base for disseminating the high-technology projects in the region.
+ BUDGET AMOUNT
To finance the operation of the Owl Buses, budget provision was needed to pay for the labour costs and installation of safety facilities, such as protective walls for drivers and a speeding prevention system. These expenses were covered by the joint management funds for the shift from private to quasi-public bus operation. Additional costs have not been yet incurred.