Hwaseong City: Shared Kickboards and Bicycles Must Be Rented and Returned Only at Designated Locations

Pilot Program to Be Launched in Dongtan Area Starting August 18

From now on, in the Dongtan area of Hwaseong, shared kickboards and bicycles must be rented and returned at designated locations.

On August 11, Hwaseong City announced that it will begin a pilot operation of a "designated location rental and return system" for personal mobility devices (PM) in the Dongtan area starting August 18, in order to address the problem of illegally abandoned devices.

This system, being introduced for the first time among cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province, was established to resolve issues of illegal parking and unauthorized abandonment that have arisen under the existing "free-floating" model used by shared PM operators.

To implement the system, the city has secured more than 1,000 PM-only parking lots since last year, and in May this year, it signed a public-private partnership agreement with private shared PM companies to create a safe environment for PM usage.

The pilot program will be conducted throughout the entire area from Dongtan 1-dong to Dongtan 9-dong. Citizens using the service must rent and return PMs only at designated locations, such as PM-only parking lots. Violations may result in additional charges.

Jung Myunggeun, Mayor of Hwaseong, stated, "The introduction of this system aims to resolve pedestrian safety issues caused by illegal parking and unauthorized abandonment, and to improve the urban environment." He added, "We will continue to develop the system so that citizens can travel more safely and conveniently."