U Bike Station (with my bike in it)
It appears that Daejeon is following the lead of major cities around the world and is installing a bike sharing system for its citizens. Much like the Velib system in Paris, sites around Daejeon are getting automated bicycle racks. While I can’t yet find information as to how many bikes are going to be available when the program launches, it seems it may be a rather decent-sized system.
U Bike station concrete footing installation
Installation of footings started last week and the racks started going in as soon as the concrete had set. I’m quite interested to see what the bikes are going to look like and what the cost is going to be. As soon as I know I’ll post an update.
Update 1 (October 10):
Well, it seems something related to this just came down the Google Alerts news feed in the right-hand sidebar over there: –>
The city of Daejeon is currently testing the system with 200 bicycles, and plans to expand it in the coming months. Additionally, the Korean government is showing its support of bicycle transportation by building more bicycle roads.
Pay Station
If this is correct, what we’re witnessing is the test phase before the grand plan is launched. I guess my next step is to figure out how to use the Kiosks, how much it’s going to cost and just where, exactly, these bike stations are located. If you see them popping up in your area, please leave a comment so that I can add them to the list below:
- Mannyeon-dong, at the bus stop across from Technoworld (near KBS tower).
- Daejeon Government Complex, across from the East Gate
Update 2 (October 12):
The bicycles have started arriving at the stations! They are chainless (shaft-drive) bikes which will be good for keeping your clothing clean, and are Euro-comfort style which means a comfortable, slower riding style.
One of the Ta-shu~ Bikes
As I got off the bus at the Seo-gu Health Center stop (by Technoworld) about half an hour ago, there were a couple of curious Koreans who, like me, wandered over to the new bikes and the pay station to try to figure things out. The Korean woman at the stop said the system was going to be initialized tomorrow. She was explaining things to both a senior woman and myself. I asked about prices and how to use it and she said she understood it was to be free and you needed some kind of card to use it. I asked her if there was a time limit and she seemed to indicate that she knew it to be free without a limit. I then inquired about how to obtain one of these cards and if a local dong office would be an appropriate place. She wasn’t sure but assumed so.
Handlebar-mounted locking system controller
From there I continued home and decided to stop into my local citizen’s office (주민사무소) to see if they knew anything about the cards and how to obtain one. I asked a woman at the desk how and where I was supposed to get a card to use the new Ta-shu bike system that was showing up around town. She said they’ve had lots of inquiries but they haven’t heard officially from the City yet as to what’s going on. To the best of her knowledge the system is going to be integrated with the public transportation cards (Hankkumi cards). She indicated that the system was still be installed and tested and that it might be a little longer than the anticipated start date of tomorrow before everything is running as planned.
It appears to me that the City is trying to get this rolled out to align with the major Astronomic Science conference on in town this week. I am wondering about a couple of things, though:
- I’m curious as to whether the first woman at the bus stop was correct about the pricing, especially if the system is tied to the transit cards. Those are essentially debit cards and so I wonder if there is an intention to charge for the bikes, especially since you don’t necessarily need to give any personal information to get a transit card. If they are free for an indefinite period of time, and you can’t trace where they are going, what’s the motivation for users to bring them back and not just get a free bike for personal use and then just take a new one when the first one needs maintenance?
- Second, since I can use my Korean credit card for the buses instead of my transit card, will I be able to use that to borrow/rent a bike?
- How many stations are there going to be? I read in the link above the plan seemed to be for 200 bikes at the start, but that seems nowhere near enough for a proper launch in a city of a million and a half people, many of which are avid cyclists.
Of course, here are more pictures:
Locking mechanism from the back
Ta-shu~ bikes in the stands ready for action
The screen says to wait until Oct 13.
ETRI and VICTEK are responsible for the technology
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks interesting…as a newcomer to Daejeon, I’ve been somewhat tempted to get a bike, but I get the vibe that Daejeon isn’t very biker friendly for commuting (unless you feel like getting hammered by a car!) So, I’ve been sticking to the public transportation to get around.
However, this sounds intriguing, so keep us informed if you discover more!
Hey Toadhjo-
You’d be surprised how bikable Daejeon is. It may seem chaotic, but I commute by bike daily, as do quite a few people I know. In fact, there are three regular and three other occasional bike commuters in my office here at Mokwon University, which has to be one of the most unsettling places to ride. The whole area is under massive redevelopment, so that means sharing the road with multi-ton heavy loaders, cement trucks and other large vehicles including several frequent bus routes. The drivers, however, seem to be even more attentive and cautious than most regular vehicle drivers.
The key to cycling in Daejeon is riding with traffic in the road, not on the bike paths on the sidewalk. Vehicles rarely stop on the stop line and as such when they turn from one road to the other and you’re in the crosswalk you’re more likely to get side-swiped. The middle or right-side tire path of the lane is more visible and most vehicles will move into the other lane to go around you. On single-lane roads the white line or shoulder is usually adequate. I don’t get many honks, but do get a few close passes. That said, drivers don’t treat you much different than another vehicle if you command the space.
Until you’re comfortable with the traffic flow, however, you should certainly make use of the bike paths by the river. Right now the city is adding bike-only lanes close to the embankment to leave the river-side paths for pedestrians. Just get a couple lights- a red blinkie for the back and a white light for the front. You should be able to get a set for under 30,000 won that will at least make you visible to other cyclists and pedestrians.
Definitely a good for us and for more cities around the world, makes me happier that I found the website and that more information will be forthcoming from it. Thanks Kim.
You’re most certainly welcome!