South Korea is speeding up its push for robotaxi services as the government eases regulations and more companies are willing to work together.
Kakao Mobility, which runs Korea's biggest taxi-hailing platform, Kakao T, is building a platform that can manage robotaxi services, including dispatch, control, and route planning. By using data from Kakao T and its navigation app, Kakao Navi, the company aims to improve its technology and operations, which are key to making autonomous driving a reality. Kakao Mobility is developing all the main technologies for self-driving cars, like perception, localization, decision-making, and driving, using advanced AI techniques like deep learning.
Pilot projects for autonomous driving are also picking up speed. Kakao Mobility is testing an on-demand robotaxi service in Seoul’s Gangnam area and plans to expand as part of the city’s bigger robotaxi rollout.
The city of Seoul recently announced plans to launch fully unmanned Level 4 robotaxis in its Sangam autonomous driving zone by the second half of this year, making it the first such service in Korea and the third in the world.
Companies supporting robotaxi operations, like Humax Mobility, are also moving fast. Humax is working on solutions for vehicle management as well as charging infrastructure, utilizing its experience with services like Turu Parking and Turu Charger. They strategize to utilize their network of over 1,300 parking spots and 3,300 charging stations as hubs for charging and maintaining unmanned vehicles.
Autonomous A2Z, another company, plans to create a Korean-specific robotaxi model, designed to handle Korea's complex roads and high safety standards.
The taxi industry is also becoming more supportive of robotaxis. The Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Associations has been working with major mobility companies since last year to help the taxi industry move towards autonomous driving. With an aging workforce and labor shortages, the industry sees robotaxis as essential for survival and is choosing to cooperate.