South Korea goes for smart road tech

Advanced technologies will be incorporated into future road developments in South Korea as part of a 10-year programme. The country will incorporate smart road technology into expressway routes, with charging systems for EVs as they are being driven - as well as tech to remove dust and other contaminants. The country’s expressways will be ready for use by self-driving cars by 2024 and over 100 projects have already been planned, authorities say. Improving safety will be another focus for the smart ro
October 31, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Advanced technologies will be incorporated into future road developments in South Korea as part of a 10-year programme. The country will incorporate smart road technology into expressway routes, with charging systems for EVs as they are being driven - as well as tech to remove dust and other contaminants.


The country’s expressways will be ready for use by self-driving cars by 2024 and over 100 projects have already been planned, authorities say.

Improving safety will be another focus for the smart road developments with the target of cutting casualties from crashes by 30%. Introducing smart expressways is also expected to lower maintenance needs and running costs by 30%, reducing noise pollution by 20% and emissions by 15%, while simultaneously lowering congestion by 30%.

New traffic control technology will be introduced to message self-driving vehicles when traffic control lights will change - while other systems will supply information for factors such as lane width. Around 5,500km of the busiest highways will be upgraded first as the programme is rolled out across the country. Detailed 3D mapping data will be collated as part of the programme, with local communications companies SK Telecom and KT already carrying out research work.

Networking & Communication Systems

Related Content

  • Smoother running on Florida’s I-4
    March 11, 2025
    The Sunshine State is pioneering new implementations of V2X tech designed to smooth traffic flows and save lives. Andrew Stone shares the story so far…
    Read More
  • IBTTA Summit: satellite tolling is the future
    August 15, 2019
    IBTTA members met in Florida to consider the technological changes that will impact their businesses – including satellite tolling. Colin Sowman reports from Orlando Over decades, the technology employed in toll collection has been honed to near perfection – automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are easily within a couple of per cent of infallibility even at highway speeds. However, technical innovations beyond the confines of the toll road cannot b
    Read More
  • Doha implements traffic control system
    November 21, 2012
    Expansion of ITS systems has accelerated in Qatar this year, with rapid deployment of a traffic control system in Doha. Less than 10 years from now an extensive system of ITS technology will be operating in Qatar, informing and directing users of the country’s roads. That can be stated with confidence for a number of reasons: the world’s richest country per capita will host the World Cup in 2022 and is understood to be planning to develop sophisticated systems of ITS for road safety and traffic managemen
    Read More
  • Digital twins help city space race
    October 26, 2022
    As the world becomes more urbanised, there is a need to monitor the likely effects this will have on the way we live, says Jeroen Borst of TNO, the Dutch organisation for applied scientific research
    Read More

Highlighted Content