SEOUL | While Quebec is still procrastinating over a tramway, Montreal is struggling to develop its metro and the idea of a Toronto-Quebec “fast train” is moving forward at a snail’s pace, South Korea has equipped with one of the best networks in the world, to which will be added flying taxis, autonomous buses and even a quasi-supersonic train. Welcome to Seoul, the city of the future in public transportation.
In Quebec, the Legault government’s latest budget invests three times less in public transport than in roads and very little in interurban bus transport.
On the contrary, Korea spends twice as much money on the railway network as on the road network and has made political choices basing the development of its economy in recent decades on intelligent, efficient and sustainable transport.
- Listen to the interview with Stéphanie Martin, municipal affairs journalist at the Journal de Québec on Richard Martineau’s show via QUB :
Result: “Not only do these choices improve mobility for its citizens, but they create models for cities and nations around the world,” says the DD Madiha Bencekri, expert in transportation engineering and smart cities at the University of Seoul.
The newspaper went into the field to see this and meet the key players in this success.
Seoul Station is a public transportation hub in South Korea, where one can take a high-speed train, commuter train, subway or bus. It is frequented by more than 100,000 passengers every day.
Stephanie Martin
Flying taxis and hypertube train
The system in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, is considered one of the best public transportation networks in the world. We are now considering innovations such as flying taxis next year and the train which will travel almost at the speed of sound within 25 years.
From the end of 2025, flying taxis will operate in Seoul.
Image taken from a video courtesy of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of Korea
A host of innovations are already in place in the Korean capital: autonomous buses, a control center that detects accidents or congestion and immediately warns motorists of the correct roads to take, applications that provide real-time directions bus routes and arrival times… At the airport, smiling robots help passengers.
At Incheon Airport, Korea, smiling robots greet passengers and offer assistance. Just approach them and ask them.
Stephanie Martin
In real time
In Seoul, we focus on integrated mobility, meaning a range of choices in public transport. A solution that the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, wants to implement in his city, but which is still in its infancy. It’s easy to get around, real-time information is available at your fingertips, on your smartphone.
This is not to mention that a high-speed train network has covered the country’s territory for 20 years and makes intercity transport easy and efficient.
The new third-generation KTX high-speed train will be unveiled to the public this month. It will travel at 320 km/h, or 60 km/h faster than its predecessor. KTXs are designed and manufactured in Korea. They have been circulating in the area for 20 years.
Stephanie Martin
The system is the pride of Koreans and would make many Quebec citizens green with envy. Moreover, Quebecers who live in Seoul are able to testify to the incredible contrast with their experience of transportation here (see the other text here).
And a tram
This futuristic city also plans to add to its public transport menu a mode little used in Asia, the tram, for more “comfort”.
In addition, the Koreans built in 15 years an ultramodern city, Songdo, on the outskirts of Seoul, a model of an intelligent and sustainable city where the goal was to do without cars entirely. However, this objective is far from being achieved, according to the researchers.
The city of Songdo, built in just 15 years, is ultra-modern and intelligent. Its designers predicted that residents would be able to do without cars. But the main boulevards give a preponderant place to the car, note the two researchers.
Stephanie Martin
South Korea is very different from Quebec in terms of surface area, population and density of cities. But its GDP per capita is roughly the same, the climate is similar, although less cold and snowy, and the cost of living is similar.
“By investing in research, implementing data-driven solutions and emphasizing the user experience, Korea is defining the future of transportation, paving the way for a more sustainable world. efficient, sustainable and connected,” says researcher Bencekri.
Most innovative country
In ruins after the Korean War in 1953, the democratic country was rebuilt in a few decades and its unprecedented development was achieved in the space of barely 30 years.
Thanks to major investments in research and development (R&D), which account for 4.93% of its GDP, it is the most innovative country in the world in 2021, according to Bloomberg. It has become one of the leaders on the planet in intelligent transportation and innovation.
On the other hand, Quebec devoted 2.32% of its GDP to R&D in 2020, compared to 1.7% in Canada in 2021.
The Seoul subway is recognized as one of the most efficient in the world. It is used by 8 million people per day. Even during peak periods, we travel efficiently in a clean and safe environment, enhanced by legendary Korean discipline.
Stephanie Martin