Sharing Service

[Anchor Lead]

It's not difficult to find people riding bikes and electric kick boards on the streets these days. These one-person means of transportation are convenient to use for short distances, and even sharing services have emerged just like car-sharing. But the lack of related laws and regulations is an obstacle to the future growth of the sector.

[Pkg]

Office worker Jin Hee-hyeon borrows an electric kick board when he's in a hurry. All he needs to do is search for availability in the surrounding areas via a smartphone app.

[Soundbite] Jin Hee-hyeon(Office worker) : "Using personal vehicles helps when I'm in a hurry for an appointment or work because there's no traffic concern."

This kick board-sharing service launched in late September currently has 40-thousand subscribers. The transportation sharing market is fast expanding. Kakao Corporation also introduced a sharing service for electric bicycles. But the problem is the lack of legal standards, for instance, on safety.

[Soundbite] Choi Yeong-woo(CEO, Sharing-service provider) : "An electric kick board is currently categorized as a motorized bike, preventing its use of bicycle lanes."

The Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution also decided to allow personal transportation vehicles to operate on bike-only lanes and that driving licenses won't be necessary.

[Soundbite] Cha Doo-won(Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning) : "The surge in mobility devices is raising the need for an exclusive road for their operation. We also need related rules and a culture that's more open to such changes."

But there is still a long road ahead until a social consensus can be reached and related bills will pass into law in parliament.