7 Districts Designated by the First Half of 2021 Subject to Evaluation
Visible Results of Paid Service Development in Sangam, Daegu, Jeju, and Others

Operational performance evaluation of autonomous vehicle pilot operation districts will be disclosed on the 16th.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will release evaluation results on December 16 for the operational performance of pilot operation districts introduced to promote the spread of autonomous vehicle services (targeting 7 districts including Seoul Sangam operated in 2021).

The autonomous vehicle pilot operation district system is designed to support private enterprises in freely demonstrating autonomous driving services. It stipulates that the operational performance of each district is evaluated annually and the results are disclosed on the internet.

2022 marks the first evaluation since the system's introduction. Among 16 districts, 7 districts designated by the first half of 2021 are subject to evaluation. Among these 7 districts, a total of 11 companies (21 vehicles) in 6 districts including Seoul Sangam received paid transportation licenses and regulatory exemptions, providing services (total 2.1 million km).

As of the current point in time, paid services have been introduced in Sangam, Daegu, and Jeju, and through branding such as Tamra Jeju and Dalgubeol Daegu autonomous vehicle services, public awareness of autonomous vehicles and experiential opportunities have expanded.

Additionally, this year, only two years into implementation, 12 cities and provinces with 16 districts have been designated, and there is a continuing trend of local governments such as Seoul Yeouido and areas near the Blue House, Incheon, and South Chungcheong expressing interest in additional designations. The pilot operation system is evaluated to be successfully establishing itself.

Examining the evaluation results by district operational performance, among the 7 districts, those providing both paid and unpaid services—Sangam (2 companies/6 vehicles), Daegu (2 companies/2 vehicles), Pangyo (2 companies/4 vehicles), and Sejong (2 companies/5 vehicles)—showed favorable evaluations.

Specific evaluation results showed: △'Somewhat Excellent' 4 districts (Seoul Sangam, Gyeonggi Pangyo, Sejong City, Gwangju) △'Average' 1 district (Daegu) △'Insufficient' 2 districts (North Chungcheong·Sejong, Jeju).

In the case of Gwangju, autonomous driving technology was demonstrated using special-purpose vehicles such as road cleaning trucks rather than passenger services. For Jeju, the service was aimed at activation through a 'tourism-linked' mobility pilot project. For North Chungcheong and Sejong, autonomous bus service operation within BRT appears to be feasible within this year through demonstration.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to identify improvements to the overall operational system of pilot operation districts and institutional improvements based on analysis results of operational performance by district, and utilize these as data for efficient operation of autonomous vehicle pilot operation districts.

Detailed information regarding this pilot operation district operational performance evaluation will be available from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport website starting December 16.

Park Ji-hong, Director of Automobile Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "As a result of analyzing the evaluation results of this pilot operation district evaluation, there are many cases where planned services have been delayed due to circumstances regarding financial resources by local governments. We plan to review various administrative and financial support measures to promote service activation," and "To reduce the burden of writing performance reports for local government operational evaluations and enhance the effectiveness of regulatory exemption effect analysis, we will improve the evaluation system by adding 'service operation period' and 'autonomous driving control system' as evaluation items, and plan to operate pilot operation districts substantively so that they can practically support the commercialization of autonomous vehicles," he said.