Studio Galilei, 'Baro DRT' Nationwide Expansion to Local Governments Accelerates

Introduction and Operation of 'Baro DRT' Service in 21 Regions Nationwide

Smart mobility platform startup ‘Studio Galilee (CEO Kim Hyun-myung)’ announced that following the full-scale operation launch in Cheongju City in June, it started the ‘VARO DRT’ service in Naju, Busan Gijang, and Siheung in September, and in Sejong, Gwangju City in Gyeonggi Province, Geoje-myeon in Geoje City, and Yangsan City in October.

Starting with the main project in Cheongju City, which expanded the service to 12 eup/myeon areas in June, Studio Galilee has actively entered DRT service operations and is rapidly expanding nationwide by providing VARO DRT services to a total of about 30 communities, including regions scheduled to launch within the year.

Unlike other companies that mainly operate services in urban areas, Studio Galilee differentiates itself by operating various types of DRT tailored to different regions, including urban areas, mixed urban-rural cities, rural fishing villages, remote areas, metropolitan units, and tourist destinations, providing differentiated technology and services.

The cumulative number of passengers in the three locations of Cheongju, Naju, and Busan Gijang, where the dynamic DRT method is operated?generating AI-based real-time optimal routes upon passenger calls without fixed routes?reached 67,495, with a cumulative operating distance of 532,294 km (from June 1 to October 20), demonstrating excellent operational performance.

The average waiting time in the three regions recorded 12.0 minutes in September (13.4 minutes on weekdays, 10.2 minutes on holidays) and has been continuously decreasing since the start of operations. In particular, in Osong-eup, Cheongju, the average waiting time dramatically decreased by about 76%, from 84.5 minutes to 20.2 minutes, and Naju also operates with an average waiting time of 12.9 minutes, about 59% less than before, significantly improving the level of public transportation service.

Moreover, the introduction of VARO DRT has greatly increased public transportation demand. The average daily number of users of Cheongju’s DRT is about 171, more than eight times the previous level, and Naju demonstrated the service performance of VARO DRT by increasing ridership up to 1.8 times compared to before after one month of operation.

Studio Galilee attributed these outstanding achievements to the technological capabilities of ‘TAMOS (Transit Analysis and Mobility Optimization System),’ the only domestically developed integrated mobility platform. TAMOS was also used in the pre-analysis of the effects of DRT introduction in Kalamazoo City, Michigan, USA, and the analysis results were selected for presentation at ‘TRB 2024,’ the largest mobility conference in the US, and nominated for publication in an SCI journal, demonstrating TAMOS’s internationally recognized technological excellence.

At the tech conference ‘NEMO 2023’ hosted by Kakao Mobility last September, Studio Galilee announced plans to develop the world’s first ‘Picker and Sweeper’ technology, a DRT and taxi-linked service that divides demand-dense central areas and fragmented peripheral demand areas within a region, providing DRT service in demand-dense areas and taxi or shared services in peripheral areas.

The Picker and Sweeper technology has been partially applied to the tourist DRT ‘TABARA’ operating in Busan Gijang and has shown results. During the Chuseok holiday period on October 1, TABARA transported 8.2 passengers per vehicle per hour. Considering that the world’s top companies report a transport capacity of about 7 to 8 passengers per vehicle per hour, Studio Galilee’s TAMOS has proven world-class transport efficiency, and it plans to further improve TAMOS’s transport efficiency through additional advancements next year.

CEO Kim Hyun-myung of Studio Galilee stated, “To expand business into private DRT services, we will actively expand the tourist DRT business started this year in Busan Gijang to Seoul and other regions,” and added, “Additionally, through the World Smart City Expo last September, we are in discussions to export mobility platform services to countries in Africa and Central Asia, making 2024 the inaugural year for the global expansion of VARO DRT and TAMOS.”