9 Stations Including Cheongnyangni and Jongno 3-ga with High Wheelchair Users and Transfers
[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] On the 26th, it was announced that a navy blue floor strip called 'Safe Road' will be introduced in the Seoul subway to easily guide the location of elevators. It is expected to greatly improve elevator accessibility for transportation-vulnerable groups such as the elderly, disabled, and foreign passengers.
Seoul Metro Corporation, together with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korea Elevator Safety Agency, revealed that from the 12th to the 22nd, they installed the 'Elevator Use Guidance Safety Route Safe Road' (Safe Road) at nine major stations in the Seoul subway to prevent safety accidents and enhance mobility convenience for transportation-vulnerable groups such as wheelchair users. The total length of the floor strips installed at the nine stations reaches 2.5 km.
The location of elevators inside subway stations has typically been guided through comprehensive maps and wall or ceiling signs. However, passengers had to find these signs or maps themselves, which was inconvenient.
'Safe Road' is a more noticeable and intuitive way to indicate elevator locations than posters or stickers. It utilizes linear attachments that guide passengers, such as transfer strips already installed in subway stations, exit guidance lines on highways and various roads, and mobility lines for convenience facilities in public institutions, to also indicate elevator locations. This is the first initiative of its kind in the urban railway industry.
'Safe Road' is designed with priority given to transportation-vulnerable groups, especially wheelchair users who are the main users of elevators. The stations selected for installation were chosen based on the presence of many elderly, wheelchair users, and transfer passengers. The strips were attached along actual accessible routes from outside the station to train boarding and transfers for wheelchair users.
Meanwhile, during the selection process of the 'Safe Road' design, careful consideration was given to avoid confusion with existing transfer strips on the floor. After analyzing the colors of existing metropolitan subway lines, four candidate colors were selected. Then, to choose colors that colorblind individuals could similarly perceive, an internal colorblindness simulation was conducted, resulting in navy blue and gray as the final candidates. Considering the color contrast with station floors and resistance to dirt in actual prints, navy blue was finally selected.
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