'GCOO', the leading personal mobility (PM) sharing service platform in Korea, operated by GBike (CEO Jong-Soo Yoon), has conducted a survey on the distribution of personal mobility devices across the nation in celebration of its 7th anniversary. The survey revealed that GCOO operates an overwhelmingly large number of PM devices, especially dominating in 13 out of 17 metropolitan government jurisdictions, excluding Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gyeongsangnam-do.
One-third of shared PM devices nationwide are GCOO's... Higher operation rates in regions with less convenient public transportation compared to the metropolitan area
The survey, which counted active devices shown on the applications of 9 major PM sharing service providers including GCOO, found that GCOO operates about 100,000 PM devices nationwide consisting of electric bicycles and electric kick scooters. The total number of PM devices operated by all 9 companies is approximately 300,000, with GCOO accounting for one-third.
Among the 17 metropolitan governments, companies A in Seoul, Busan, and Gyeongsangnam-do, and company B in Daegu operate the most devices, but GCOO leads in the remaining regions. Furthermore, GCOO was the only company found to operate PM services in all 17 metropolitan government areas.
Amidst concerns about rural decline due to population decrease, the survey has identified GCOO's significant role in communities struggling with public transportation issues. The overall statistics of the 9 companies surveyed show that while 21% of devices are located in Seoul and 56% in the greater metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon), where the population is dense and the market is large, GCOO, in contrast, has only 10% in Seoul and 46% in the metropolitan area, focusing more on regions with longer public transportation intervals where there is a greater need for PM devices.
Established as an alternative for long bus intervals and inconvenient commutes
GCOO is indeed more welcome in regions with public transportation issues. For example, the only public transportation in Wonju, Gangwon-do is the city bus, but according to the Wonju City Transportation Information Center timetable, bus intervals range from 25 to as long as 70 minutes. Consequently, Wonju City is proactively promoting PM by supporting electric bicycle purchases and operating a public electric bicycle service. GCOO operates 1,600 PM devices in Wonju alone.
After Samsung Electronics built the world's largest semiconductor plant and the ensuing establishment of Godeok New Town, Pyeongtaek City faced a population boom and public transportation bottlenecks. According to the Gyeonggi Province Transportation Information Center, Gyeonggi's public transportation (bus, subway, taxi) share is about 28%, whereas Pyeongtaek is only 15%. GCOO operates over 2,300 PM devices in Pyeongtaek, playing a practical role in public transportation for employees of the Samsung Pyeongtaek Campus and partner companies. Sales are concentrated during the morning rush hours from 5 to 7 am and evening from 4 to 6 pm.
PM accidents past peak… Effectiveness in awareness improvement through continued safety promotion activities
In addition, GBike has conducted 43 safety training sessions since November 2020 until the end of June 2024, in collaboration with the Road Traffic Authority, local police stations, and schools to ensure the safe operation of PM. According to the Road Traffic Authority's Traffic Accident Analysis System, accidents involving PM escalated more than fivefold from 447 cases in 2019 to 2,386 cases until 2022. However, last year in 2023, there were only 3 more cases, totaling 2,389, indicating a plateau. For the first time since the statistics were collected, fatalities decreased last year. While GCOO's users have increased by more than 30% annually, the stagnation in accident numbers is attributed to the improved user awareness from consistent safety education and campaigns.
CEO Jong-Soo Yoon of GBike stated, "Our goal has been consistent for the past 7 years: to help overcome the limitations of walking with a safe and reliable mode of transportation. We will continue to create services that directly assist a diverse range of customers, including workers during the pre-dawn hours when public transportation is unavailable, commuters suffering from long intervals, and residents in areas with reduced bus routes," he said.
