[THE INVESTOR] SoCar, Korea’s mobility platform most famous for its car-sharing services, on Nov. 7 showcased how its app can be used with an autonomous driving technology.

About 100 people participated in the event to experience the autonomous driving technology developed by Seoul National University, Yonsei University and SK Telecom and SWM.AI. It is a part of a project by the Transport Ministry to develop a self-driving technology for car-sharing services. 

The test was conducted on a 2.3-kilometer road in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. The participants called a driverless car via SoCar’s car-sharing app and reached their destination without driving. After attending to customers, the car moved to the next person who sought its service or was parked automatically.

“By combining autonomous driving technology with mobility services such as car sharing, we can provide more optimized means of transportation. It means we can solve the issues of mobility more efficiently with fewer cars,” said Chief Technology Director Won Jong-pil.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)