Seoul is piloting a 'bicycle bus' that allows commuters to travel in groups to work, while Chuncheon recently expanded a recreational bicycle path that circles Uiampo Lake. Uijeongbu City has also completed the maintenance of 15 kilometers of bicycle paths around Hoeryong Station and hopes to expand 270 kilometers of bicycle paths by 2013 to become a 'bicycle advanced city'. Yangyang County also plans to improve its bicycle roads and complete a bicycle-related infrastructure construction project next month.

Among them, Uijeongbu City has contributed a lot to the revitalization of bicycle use by building a parking tower-type bicycle parking lot in the west transit parking lot of Hoeryong Station in 2009.

The parking tower has a floor area of 89.6㎡ and is an unmanned rotary system from the 1st basement to the 4th floor (15.6m high) with a total capacity of 192 cars (160 regular and 32 small). There are three entrances and exits, and each space can park a total of four bicycles. It is free to use and can be registered through the Uijeongbu City Hall website. You can use either a prepaid T-money card or a postpaid transportation card, and you can park your bicycle using an authorized card.

However, a bicycle parking lot was not always planned for this area. Originally, the site of the transit parking lot had a row of on-street bike racks, but when the road was opened, the city had previously recommended against it for reasons such as aesthetics and poor management. However, Uijeongbu City started building a bicycle parking lot by benchmarking the bicycle parking lot that was being piloted near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station at the time, with the goal of increasing the convenience of users who used the original bicycle racks and building bicycle infrastructure.

The bicycle parking lot, which was completed after a total project cost of about 1 billion won and a six-month construction period, is currently showing a steady usage rate.  In particular, since it is operated on a membership system, there is no risk of loss or theft, and the parking lot is rarely empty. Byun Young-nam, a representative from the Uijeongbu City Road Department, emphasized, "Bicycle standards and designs are gradually diversifying, and expensive bicycles are also being used, so this place is popular because there is no risk of loss or theft." 

The bicycle parking lot is mainly used by commuters from residential areas to Hoeryong Station. In fact, the morning commute near Hoeryong Station, a dense area of apartments and housing complexes, is bustling with so-called "cyclists. Byun Young-nam, a representative from Uijeongbu City, explained, "There are more riders on weekdays than on weekends, and the number of riders tends to decrease during rainy weather because the nature of bicycles is highly affected by the weather." Although designed as an unmanned system, there are many variables that can occur with the machine, so it is currently operated in three shifts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. using public workers.

It's easy to use. After registering on the Uijeongbu Bicycle Parking Lot's website (www.ujbbipark.co.kr), you can use your ID to access the bike parking lot directly through the unmanned system. Enter the text verification number sent to your cell phone and click Confirm to complete the registration. After that, enter your ID and password on the touch screen to see the real-time status of parking spaces, and if there is a vacant space, you can use the parking lot immediately.

For security purposes, you can register a personal card, such as a post-paid t-money card with a transportation card function, instead of a user ID. After registration, you can log in by touching the card to the RF reader instead of entering the ID. Cards that can be registered include t-money cards, smart cards, post-paid and prepaid transportation cards, credit cards with transportation card functions, and mobile phones with transportation card functions.

To park a bicycle, after logging in, press the parking button to open the parking gate, position the bicycle, press the green button on the top of the door to close the door, and the status of the bicycle is displayed on the parking status. If it is processed normally, the parking location information will be displayed, and the parking date and location information will be sent to the service user's mobile phone via text service.

Byun Young-nam, a representative of Uijeongbu City, explained, "When parking, there is a primary sensor at the gate to monitor the entry and exit of bicycles, and a secondary sensor inside the rack to check whether the front wheel is completely pressed against the rack, so accurate parking is possible."

However, since the system is unmanned, there is a risk of errors due to inattention. Examples include parking a small bike in a regular space when it should be parked in a small bike space, or pressing the emergency stop button when it's not an emergency. Especially during busy rush hours, when ridership peaks, it's not uncommon to run into a subway station without pushing the front wheel all the way to the rack, or not pressing the door close button.

The average bicycle parking time is between two and three minutes, but most people neglect to park their bicycles and rush to catch the subway. Byun Young-nam, a representative from Uijeongbu City, explained, "Even if there is an error, the door closes with a 'beep' sound after 30 seconds, so it is a hassle for the staff to check the status of the bicycle parking again." "We are working on guidelines for the correct use of the bicycle parking lot," he said.

In the future, Uijeongbu City plans to promote the use of bicycles by building bicycle parking lots in areas with a large number of people close to the subway, such as Uijeongbu Station, where central shopping malls are densely concentrated, Yuseong Station, where many single-family houses are located, and Nokyang Station, where there are many apartment complexes. Byun Young-nam, a representative from Uijeongbu City, said, "There are a lot of trial and error because it is the first time," adding, "We plan to expand the sensor recognition range of the current bicycle parking lot and add voice recognition functions, and supplement it so that it can be rebooted remotely in case of minor errors."

Meanwhile, Uijeongbu City has been implementing the 'Uijeongbu Citizen Bicycle Insurance' system since February. Any citizen with an address in Uijeongbu City is eligible for bicycle insurance, which does not cover property damage such as bicycle breakage or theft, but covers death, disfigurement, fines, defense costs, and traffic accident handling support. Even if a bicycle-related accident occurs in an area other than Uijeongbu, Uijeongbu citizens are covered.

Byun Young-nam, a representative of Uijeongbu City, said, "Uijeongbu City is striving to approach bicycle parking with the concept of bicycle parking and is expanding bicycle roads in unopened areas such as Jungrangcheon." "Bicycle parking is an amenity for all citizens to safely store bicycles, and we will strive to promote the use of bicycles, an eco-friendly means of transportation."