▲RoboRide pilot service begins in Gangnam. (Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group)



The first autonomous driving pilot service was launched in Seoul's Gangnam area.
Purpose: securing autonomous driving data and demonstrating Level 4 autonomous driving

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is moving beyond Sangam to launch a robo-ride service in Gangnam, marking the beginning of full-scale autonomous driving in the city center.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 9th that it will begin a pilot service in the most congested urban area in the country in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Hyundai Motor Group to advance autonomous driving technology.

Hyundai Motor Group, in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will begin testing its car-hailing service, RoboRide, using Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with Level 4 autonomous driving technology in some areas of Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Hyundai Motor Group has already obtained temporary permission to operate autonomous vehicles from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and plans to form a customer experience group of people selected through internal criteria to run an initial pilot service, and then expand the service to general customers as early as August.

Unlike Sangam, the Roboride being introduced this time is not a shuttle bus concept that runs on a set route. Rather, it is a technology and service in which the autonomous vehicle makes all decisions and operates autonomously, such as finding the shortest route in real time based on the passenger's departure and destination.

To ensure safe operation, safety personnel (emergency drivers) will be on board to respond to emergencies, and through verification, the intervention of safety personnel (emergency drivers) will be gradually reduced, thereby developing unmanned driving technology.

To cope with the congested urban environment such as Gangnam area, Hyundai Motor Group has proactively built infrastructure that allows traffic signals and autonomous vehicles to be linked in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and has been operating in Gangnam area since 2019. Through repeated autonomous driving tests, a vast amount of driving data has been accumulated.

Hyundai Motor Group announced that it has improved safety by monitoring the autonomous driving status, vehicle status, and route in real time through its self-developed control system, and by remotely assisting with functions such as lane changing in situations where autonomous driving is difficult, such as construction areas or children's protection zones.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors expect that this pilot service will allow them to gather not only a larger volume of autonomous driving data but also hear the diverse voices of customers who use the service. Based on this, they plan to continuously advance the technology so that Level 4 autonomous vehicles can safely and flexibly respond even in complex traffic environments.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors are collaborating with Jin Mobility, which operates the car-hailing service I.M, to ensure that customers can easily use the service.

Jin Mobility is a mobility platform company that possesses its own big data analysis-based control dispatch technology (AI predicts traffic conditions 15 minutes ahead) and fintech payment system, and will be in charge of operating this pilot service using the iM application.

The Roboride service will be available throughout Gangnam, starting this year with a total of 48.8 km on 26 roads, including Teheran-ro, Gangnam-daero, Yeongdong-daero, Eonju-ro, and Nambu Circulation Road, and will expand to a total of 76.1 km on 32 roads, including Dosan-daero and Apgujeong-ro, next year.

▲Gangnam Roboride operating areas and roads (Photo courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government)

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been actively supporting autonomous driving.

Since 2020, a traffic signal opening infrastructure has been built and is in operation at a total of 132 intersections, providing autonomous vehicles with not only real-time traffic light colors in 0.1-second increments, but also the remaining time until the next traffic light color change.

As the autonomous driving demonstration stage expands from Sangam to Gangnam, the pace of technological development and commercialization is expected to accelerate further.

As it is virtually impossible to recognize 100% of traffic signals using only signal recognition vision sensors with current technology, traffic signal opening is an essential infrastructure for autonomous driving in urban areas. In particular, it plays a role in supporting safe autonomous driving even in the event of sensor failure.

Going forward, we plan to provide full support, including expanding the Roboride operating area to Apgujeong-dong, Sinsa-dong, and other areas, by additionally constructing traffic signal opening infrastructure at 32 intersections.

Jang Woong-joon, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Group, said, “Hyundai Motor Group is developing Level 4 autonomous driving technology based on ADAS technology that we independently developed and verified through mass production,” and “We expect that this Roboride pilot service will be an important turning point that will help us achieve the goal of ‘internalizing autonomous driving technology’ by verifying the technology that we have developed so far.”

Lee Seong-wook, CEO of Jin Mobility, said, "With the advent of the autonomous driving era, we have been strengthening our internal capabilities by continuing research and development with related organizations, and we aim to secure competitiveness in the future mobility service market, starting with this Roboride pilot service with Hyundai Motor Group." He added, "We will do our best to operate the service so that we can achieve the best synergy with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia in this pilot service."

The RoboRide pilot service will operate on weekdays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, avoiding rush hour to minimize inconvenience to citizens. One emergency driver who has completed safety training, including autonomous driving, will be in the driver's seat to respond to emergency situations, and up to three passengers can ride.