Gyeongbuk Provincial Government New Town 8km Section Designated as Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone

On the 27th, Gyeongbuk Province announced that the area around the provincial government new town was newly designated as an autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The pilot operation zone covers an 8 km section from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government yard in Pungcheon-myeon, Gyeongbuk to the Gyeongbuk Development Corporation.

The autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone is a system introduced under the “Act on the Promotion and Support of Commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles,” where regulatory exemptions are applied to promote research and pilot operation of autonomous vehicles.

An autonomous vehicle driving through the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government New Town.

In January, Gyeongbuk Province applied for the designation of the pilot operation zone with the aim of creating an optimized demonstration city to establish a foundation for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles in the advanced mobility era. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted on-site inspections and committee deliberations and finally designated and announced the pilot operation zone.

Prior to the designation, Gyeongbuk Province successfully completed a one-month free demonstration of a Level 3 autonomous shuttle bus in the provincial government new town from April 17 to May 16.

The autonomous driving demonstration project is an excellent example of industry-academia-research cooperation involving local startups with outstanding core technologies such as Autonomous A2Z, research institutions capable of technical support and infrastructure construction like the Gyeongbuk IT Convergence Industry Technology Institute, and Kyungil University.

Based on high passenger satisfaction and feedback, plans are underway to expand autonomous vehicle operations to traffic blind spots and major tourist destinations in the province such as Bomun Complex and Hahoe Village.

A survey conducted among 270 people including Gyeongbuk provincial officials and employees of transportation-related organizations regarding the autonomous shuttle bus recorded a usage satisfaction rate of 77.5% and a reuse intention rate of 73.7%.

Taking advantage of this pilot operation zone designation, Gyeongbuk Province plans to participate in a national public project for building autonomous driving infrastructure (September), enact an ordinance to support the pilot operation zone (October), and operate autonomous electric buses regularly in the provincial government new town (2024) to provide various autonomous driving demonstration services.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “The 4th Industrial Revolution era is characterized by autonomous driving as a representative and fundamental technology,” adding, “Going forward, Gyeongbuk Province will take the lead in active investment and support to commercialize autonomous vehicles and build infrastructure centered on the provincial government new town.”