JUNE 2022 | THE Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) recently conducted an analysis of Ttareungi ridership and data showed that the number of rentals from January to May 2022 was 14.14 million. This is an increase of 138.3% compared to 10.22 million over the same period last year. The city speculates this is a result of its more efficient redistribution of Ttareungi bikes and rental stations according to ridership demand.
The city divided rental stations into two categories of high and low preferences, and selected rental stations for concentrated management since March. Just two months into the implementation of concentrated management, the number of bikes available on the spot surged, which led to rising ridership.
The city selected a total of 47 rental stations for its concentrated management, assigning one to two stations for each distribution team to address the unbalanced distribution of bikes among rental stations. Since March, the distribution teams have preemptively been dispatching bikes at high-demand rental stations before rush hour.
The city has plans to further improve its public bike share service and infrastructure. It is promoting not only quantitative expansion of public bikes but also qualitative improvement of its service by upgrading its infrastructure. This year again, the city will carry out various policies for citizens to use Ttareungi safely and conveniently, including rolling out new Ttareungi bikes, installing rental stations close to each other, conducting concentrated management of rental stations, and offering bike safety education programmes.
Factors that have influenced the spike in Ttareungi ridership are attributable to the post-pandemic lifting of social distancing and the return to normalcy as well as the influx of international tourists visiting Seoul.
Seoul will do its best to create a safe and convenient environment for citizens of all ages to ride Ttareungi bikes—from adolescents to young adults and middle-aged riders—for both leisure and commute.
