Newest mobility trend arrives in Korea

During Seollal I saw many excited, young people on electric kick scooters. My first thought was that they rented them from a shop or just bought them but as I saw more and more people, I realized that the latest North American mobility trend has arrived in Korea: shared electric kick scooters.

The start-up Kickgoing has launched these electric kick scooters late September 2018 (yes, I haven’t seen the sun for a while). The kick scooters are powered by an electric battery which can last nearly 2 hours on a full charge. They are currently available in Hongdae, Gangnam and Jamsil. It started in Gangnam, then expanded to Hongdae and Jamsil in January 2019.

In order to use them, users have to download the smartphone app and create an account providing phone number and credit card information. The app says that a driving license is required and a helmet should be used when riding the scooters. Once the account is setup, a user can easily unlock a scooter through the QR code on the handle.

A basic ride covering 5 minutes costs 1,000 KRW. Any additional minute costs 100 KRW. Kickgoing offers discounts for the first ride and for recommending the service to friends. The scooters are recommended to be parked in designated areas which are shown in the app.

What’s all the hype about shared electric scooters?

Electric scooters suddenly appeared on North American roads in 2018. They quickly gained a huge popularity and the major companies Bird, Lime and Spin expanded within a few weeks to every major American city. The adoption rate of shared electric kick scooters was higher than bikesharing, carsharing or ridehailing. Within an extremely short period of time many people learned to love and to use the electric scooters very frequently.

An interesting characteristic is that especially among women these scooters have a higher popularity than bikesharing. It is cited that the scooters provide a higher sense of personal safety than bicycles as well as higher comfort. Electric scooters are a great first/last-mile solution, which means that it helps people to get from their home to public transport.

I recommend everyone to read this great article on e-scooters by Vox.

Issues of electric scooters in Korea

Back to the situation in Korea: After finding out about them I directly took a first ride. It was exciting and a lot of fun. The learning curve was amazing and after a couple of minutes I felt confident enough to drive around in full speed.

But here’s the first issue: Kickgoing recommends to use alleys and side roads, and to stay away from main roads. However, the reality will be that people will ride on the sidewalks causing conflicts with pedestrians. But I can’t blame them because nobody wants to share a road with SUVs driving at 60 or more km/h. In North America some cities have at least basic bicycle infrastructure that can be used.

The second issue: The electric scooters in Korea can be used from 7 am to 8 pm. I’m not aware of any time restrictions for Birds or Limes in the US. This time restriction makes it even difficult for commuters. Using it as a last-mile solution (for the last few minutes from the subway to home) will be more challenging with Korea’s long working hours and long commutes.

More diversity on Korean streets

A very exciting future awaits us! The introduction of shared electric scooters in Korea increases the diversity of mobility modes. Now the challenge is to transform our streets in a way that facilitates the diversity.

More dedicated bicycle infrastructure would be a great first start. Since March 2018 electric scooters and other personal electric vehicles are allowed to use bike paths (such as the Han river paths). Further, bike lanes can cater to cargo bicycles and any other future micromobility transport modes.