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Bike with name could make or break Seoul mayor presidential bid

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All "Ttaereungi" bicycles are checked out during evening rush hours in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Oh Young-jin

By Oh Young-jin

The headline requires many disclaimers. First, I am not a particular fan of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. This column in no way is intended to boost his chance of getting elected president, if he makes a bid. Also, my suggestion would be too daunting for any presidential pretender, unless he or she is from the fringes of the political spectrum with a very slim chance of getting elected. Finally, the next presidential election is slated for March 2022.

Having said all that, here is how I think a bicycle could propel Park to the presidency. It is no ordinary bicycle, since it has a name and thousands use them daily.

Its name is Ttareungyi, or an affectionate name of a bicycle from the sound of its bell in Korean, which is also the name of Seoul's bicycle ride-sharing program.

It is convenient, cheap and very popular. In downtown Seoul, Ttareungyi two-wheelers in white and pale green are everywhere, with people old and young riding during morning and evening rush hours. The service offers commuters an alternative to crowded subways, unpredictable buses, expensive taxis, costly private vehicles and time-consuming and tiresome walking.

Riding on Ttareungyi while the roads turn into a sea of cars stuck bumper to bumper can be an exhilarating experience, with the breeze caressing your face. And, of course, you can set aside the guilty feeling for not exercising with a 30-minute ride. Above all, you are entitled to cast a glance at passing hybrids or electric vehicles ― Tesla included ― with a superior sense of pride for producing a smaller carbon footprint than they do.

Cheap it is and there several options. A basic hour ride costs 1,000 won, or less than $1. But you can ride all day if you check your vehicle in at any of the rack "stations" before the designated one hour is up. In other words, you can ride one for up to 59 minutes, return it and check another out for another 59 minutes on a continual basis.

Ttaereungi bikes are returned to a rack station after Thursday morning rush hour. Courtesy of Oh Young-jin
Ttaereungi bikes are returned to a rack station after Thursday morning rush hour. Courtesy of Oh Young-jin

Add to it a GPS map that shows the number of Ttareungyi available at nearby stations, one of the many features that comes with the download of an app. Plus, using this system is practice for the sharing economy, a future that is already with us in the form of Uber, Kakao carpool, car sharing and others that are still causing friction with the existing industry. For Ttareungyi, only bicycle vendors would be up in arms but I have not seen any big protests yet.

And twice, I called for help when the system failed to give a message on my Kakao app for a return because of a malfunction in the rack. The first, made after 9 a.m. one Saturday, was received promptly by a call-center operator, while the other, before 9 on a weekday, was not answered.

If Park's obvious adaptation of Paris' Velib, a bike-sharing system set up in 2007, were a total success (Ttareungyi was launched after Park's European tour), I wouldn't be writing this column.

Park has left this health-promoting, environmentally friendly initiative half-done, leaving out the tough parts.

For one, there are no bicycle path networks. This is forcing riders to share pedestrian paths, at the risk of accidents. But I have never met any pedestrians who are upset to see me and my borrowed ride using their path or those startled by ringing the bell or slowing down behind them.

I have been riding on and off for a couple of months but the only "long path" in downtown is a city center-bound trip along the quiet one-lane, one-way Cheonggyechon road. The problem with it is that the parallel path going the other way is on the multi-lane main thoroughfare along Chongno. The latter looks and is very dangerous because cars, especially taxis, may cut in for customers, with the risk hitting bikes in the process.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, center, with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, left, ride Ttareungyis in the city's Jongno District during the
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, center, with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, left, ride Ttareungyis in the city's Jongno District during the "Jongno Streets without Cars" event, April 8, 2018. Korea Times file

Then there is a warning list in the bike's basket that, among other things, advises riders to wear a helmet. I have never seen anybody wearing one, which makes me think that it is a cosmetic approach by the city to avoid responsibility when a rider is knocked off and injured.

Addressing these problems means more than what it appears to mean, because it requires a paradigm change in Seoul's transportation system toward further constraining vehicular traffic.

In the city, where just about every household owns a vehicle, it could mean a great deal of chaos and dissatisfaction from Seoulites ― prospective voters. The Yellow Vest protests in France crossed my mind briefly.
One president, Lee Myung-bak, overhauled the city's transportation system with the restoration of Cheonggye Stream when he was the mayor, which helped him win the presidency.

But Park's task is bigger than Lee's and would be riskier than his construction work. Park needs to change not just the city's landscape but its nature, from industrial to environmental. That shift could be worth taking on for someone who wants to become leader of a country where people's top concerns are fine dust and other forms of pollution. Yes, I believe the next election will be about the environment (climate change included).

Would Park, so far reputed to be a micro-manager, have the guts to bet on this big change? Would there be anybody who will? My vote would go to him or her.


Oh Young-jin (
foolsdie@gmail.com, foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr) is digital managing editor of The Korea Times.



Oh Young-jin foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr


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