Hwaseong City Takes Comprehensive Measures to Foster Proper Personal Mobility Device Culture

[Suwon Ilbo=Lee Su-won Reporter] Hwaseong City has launched comprehensive cleanup efforts to foster a culture of proper personal mobility device (PM) usage.

The city announced on the 4th that it will address related issues such as illegal PM parking, obstruction of pedestrian traffic, safety accidents, and damage to streetscapes through maintenance efforts, thereby creating an environment where citizens can walk safely.

To this end, since April, the city has been installing dedicated PM parking facilities, including parking racks and parking lines, to resolve illegal parking issues with PMs operated by private companies.

The city is also posting user guidance materials on its official SNS, in civil service centers, and on apartment bulletin boards to promote a proper PM culture. From September onward, it plans to conduct visiting PM education programs targeting middle and high schools throughout the city as well as implement safety campaigns in cooperation with related agencies such as the police department.

Additionally, the city will hold a private-public PM meeting this month to encourage private companies to review relevant laws and usage guidelines. Starting from the end of August, enforcement crackdowns on illegal parking will begin in the Dongtan area (where approximately 6,000 PMs are currently operating and where private company PMs are most concentrated), with plans to expand citywide.

Furthermore, the city will implement a designated location rental and return policy with private company participation to seek fundamental solutions to illegal parking issues. The city also plans to hire PM enforcement officers to issue warnings for illegally parked PMs outside designated parking areas and subsequently tow non-compliant PMs while charging towing fees.

Hwaseong Mayor Chung Myung-keun stated, "Establishing a proper PM culture is essential to securing safe pedestrian passage for citizens," and added, "I urge all citizens using personal mobility devices to participate with a mature civic consciousness to create an environment where citizens can walk safely."