Gyeonggi Province cooperates with Hyundai Mobis to provide safer public bus services using advanced technologies
The Gyeonggi Provincial Government signed an agreement with the Gyeonggi Research Institute and Hyundai Mobis, the nation’s foremost manufacturer of automobile components, for collaboration in the establishment of a cooperative system to help prevent traffic accidents involving express and long-distance public buses on October 12.
Based on this agreement, the three bodies will operate a system that monitors the brainwaves of bus drivers when they are behind the wheel with the aim of ensuring safer public bus services.
They will cooperate in introducing a new concept in bus safety management and applying healthcare technologies so as to significantly reduce traffic accidents while providing safer public bus services and a comfortable commuting environment.
To this end, Gyeonggi Province decided to expand the “Brainwave-based Driver Monitoring System” developed by Hyundai Mobis to the province’s public buses.
This system measures and analyzes bus driver brainwaves through earset-type sensors, monitoring the condition of drivers – including focus, fatigue, and stress – in real time. It prevents accidents by sending visual, auditory, and tactile alerts to drivers if they are drowsy or driving carelessly.
Significantly, the monitoring system provides bus operators and drivers with operation result reports on a regular basis, which are expected to help Gyeonggi Province implement a safe public bus driving plan based on scientific data and provide residents with a safe public transportation environment while improving working conditions for bus drivers.
Gyeonggi Province will operate this monitoring system on a trial basis this year and gradually expand it to all public buses in the metropolitan area from next year.
The province will also launch the “Safer Public Bus” campaign with the goal of eliminating stress, drowsiness, and accidents.
As part of the campaign, the province will actively cooperate with Hyundai Mobis in the promotion and distribution of the monitoring system, the creation of rest areas for bus drivers, the reorganization of long-distance bus routes, and the strengthening of operator compliance with legally guaranteed working hours and break times for drivers.
Hyundai Mobis will focus on developing and supplying the monitoring system while cooperating with the province in the prevention of public bus accidents and the establishment of a foundation for bus driver healthcare. Together with Hyundai Mobis, the Gyeonggi Research Institute will research ways in which to develop and distribute the brainwave-based monitoring system.
Gyeonggi Province expects that the agreement to establish a more scientific and systematic public bus accident prevention system will create a safer and more comfortable commuting environment for its residents while also improving working conditions for bus drivers.
