SELF-DRIVING bus in Seoul?? Midnight city tour with autonomous buses
Today, we will… ride this autonomous bus! And we will tour Seoul by bike. Sit back and enjoy quiet and calming Seoul 🙂 January 20, 2024, AM 00:20 Seoul, Korea I am now in Hapjeong, right next to Hongdae. It is full of tall buildings just like any other downtown in Seoul.
Today, we will ride a self-driving bus starting from here. It connects the west and east of Seoul, from Hapjeong to Dongdaemun, and we will ride it from end to end. The length of this line is about 10km(6.24 mi), and it will take approximately 40 to 50 minutes for one-way.
Before getting started, let’s stop by a convenience store and buy a warm drink. I didn’t know I took this scene this aggressively… I bought a hot latte, which was BOGO. Oh it’s super hot Hapjeong Station Korean bus stops look like that. It is in the middle of roads. It’s interesting, huh?
It’s connected by crosswalks. Not all stops look like this, but many stops on the main roads in Seoul do. This system is called center transit lanes, and I guess many countries have this system, too. This bus stop has something that looks like screen doors, but it is not working.
Seoul is busy even at this late night. Let me show you the footage of the bus I took after the ride. The line number is ‘Night A21 (심야A21)’, and the bus has a zebra-like pattern. Wait, is it a zebra or a panda? I don’t care. Our bus will come at AM 12:40.
Here it is! Let’s get on. The bus is currently free, but you still have to tag your IC card when getting on and off. Let’s quickly take a seat first. By the way, a driver is always sitting on the driver’s seat for safety, so it’s not ‘completety’ unmanned. OK, let’s go!
The bus is slowly leaving the bus stop. This bus has 21 seats in total. Standing is prohibited for safety reasons, and you always have to fasten a seatbelt. There is a space for wheelchair users, too. In front of the seat is safety instructions for this bus.
It says a driver can intercept the system and drive manually in some cases. Operation information is shown on a panel. Wait It seems the self-driving is turned off. Why? Well, we will ride this bus twice more today, so let’s save the self-driving system for later.
If you want to skip to self-driving scenes, please proceed to 12:10. There are many late-night buses in Seoul, which have the letter N in their name. However, this bus has the letter A, which stands for ‘Autonomous’.
This bus has operated in Cheongwadae, the former office of the president, but now it is operating in downtown Seoul. First, we will get off at Gwanghwamun and look around the city. Gwanghwamun is the main gate of Gyeongbokgung, a palace where the kings of the former Korea resided and worked.
I guess you might have heard of it before if you are interested in Korean tourism. For people who have not, let me show you today. OK, let’s get off. See you later, bus! We will take the next bus after finishing the tour. Gwanghwamun also refers to this street in front of the gate.
There are a lot of buildings for public institutions and presses. There is a long park from here to Gwanghwamun, so let’s take a walk along it. An illumination festival is being held every night, but all the lights are turned off because it is late.
This is a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, who is famed for his victories against the Japanese navy in the 16C. But it is so dark that I cannot see him well. It will be great if you visit here at day. A cute gate made of balloons
Seoul recently changed its slogan to “Seoul My Soul”, and I like it. 2024 is called the year of blue dragons in East Asia. The color and animal changes every year, but I don’t know how it works… This is a statue of Sejong the Great, who invented Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
He is also known for a lot of his inventions such as a sundial or a rain gauge. Is this a dragon, too…? A lot of cute characters At the end of this road is Gyeongbokgung. I thought it would be lighted, but it’s completely dark.
When the sun is out, many tourists put on Hanbok(Korean traditional dress) and take pictures of themselves. When I pass by this place and see such tourists, I am really thankful to them for having fun with Korean culture. Thank you for your interest in Korea!
This palace is open only in the daytime, but you can enter it at night in spring and fall. If you are wearing a Hanbok, the entrance fee is free. Visit Gyeongbokgung and make a great memory! Lions will greet you. Let’s move on to the next location. We will ride a bike!
We will ride this Seoul bike (Ttareungi) and go to Jongno. It is a shared bicycle operated by Seoul, and it costs around one dollar per hour. (Another footage taken in Jongno) To borrow one, purchase an online ticket and scan a QR code on a bicycle. You can take it after it is unlocked.
Let’s go! *Deja vu intensifies* It takes about 10 minutes to get to Jongno by bicycle. Riding a bike on pedestrian roads is prohibited. You have to ride it on the outermost lane on car roads.
When crossing the road, you have to get off and walk unless there is a bicycle road on the crosswalk. Like this. Red roads are bicycle-only roads, and I prefer riding on them. On my way to Jongno, I visited Jonggak.
This is Bosingak, a building with a bell that we ring at the beginning of the year. There is a huge bell inside, but I hardly see it. Every January 1, this bell is rung 33 times as soon as a new year starts. It’s not a tradition, but a modern annual big event.
We arrived at Jongno. To return the bicycle, go to the return station and just lock the wheel. It takes over ten seconds until the return is done. After the announcement, you are free to go. Jongno Samga (Jongno 3rd street) Station Jongno is famous for its outdoor bars, called ‘Pojangmacha’.
You can enjoy soju and beer with delicious Korean food, and it is open until late at night. However, I will eat ramyeon today. This is an unmanned ramyeon restaurant, opening 24/7. Today is a day of unmanned things. Korea is getting futuristic… You can enjoy an array of ramyeons here.
All of them are boiling style just like Hangang ramyeons, not instant cup noodles. There are stoves to cook ramyeon, and toppings. There are a lot of toppings such as onions, mushrooms, chives, carrots, bean sprouts, and fish cake, and side dishes like Kimchi as well. All of them are free!
You can purchase your ramyeon with this kiosk. I’ll try Shin ramyeon, a globally famous one. It costs 4,500 won (3.4 dollars), and the price can vary for each ramyeon. Say hi to a raccoon After the payment, pick your selected ramyeon. In a bowl, put all of the content.
If the recipe says you should put something later, just follow it. For the toppings, I’m going to add some bean sprouts. It will add a deep flavor to the soup. Then I’ll add some sliced onions, and wood ear mushrooms. I have never tried adding them in ramyeon, so I’ll add just a few.
Finally, rev up the stove! It will automatically add hot water and bring it to a boil. What a convenient system While waiting for my ramyeon to be done, let’s prepare side dishes. Kimchi and radish pickles go really well with ramyeon. Mouthwatering Let’s top it with some chives and finish. Done!
Do not carry it with only one hand. It’s super dangerous. Here’s your customed ramyeon. I’m dying A generous amount of pepper and chili flakes will make the soup tastier. Bon Appetit! Let’s give it a good mix before eating. Oh my god 2 o’clock at midnight, it’s a great time to enjoy ramyeon.
The toppings made the soup more savory and flavorful. Radish pickles I love this sour and sweet taste. My last bite It was a delightful meal. Thank you for the meal. Metro stations are all closed. Old streets Who are you? I came to Jongno 4(Sa)-ga bus stop.
Normal buses ended for today, so late-night buses are in operation instead. Here comes our bus! Wait where are you going He said the bus would stop farther away. Watch the driver’s hands! His hands are away from the handle. I guess this one is running autonomously. Hooray! Anyway, seatbelt first.
Welcome to the Seoul late-night autonomous bus. It is the first autonomous bus in the world that operates at late night. This bus uses lidars to scan traffic lights and vehicles around the bus. So the bus cannot run on rainy or snowy days because it cannot use the lidars.
Don’t ask me how I came to know it… As Jongno is close to Dongdaemun, the final destination, I will get off and look around there, and get on the bus again. We arrived at Dongdaemun, the final destination. Although this is a free bus, don’t forget to tag your card before getting off.
See you later, bus! It will turn around and come back here after 20 minutes. Welcome to Dongdaemun. It’s quiet here. We have only 20 minutes, so we have to quickly look around some famous places and come back in a hurry. Let’s go. This is Dongdaemun. The outside is surrounded by a secondary wall.
Seoul has four main gates for each of the four directions, and this is the East gate. This gate was built in 1396 and has been preserved until now. You can visit Dongdaemun Design Plaza, or DDP, in 5 minutes by walking. It is a big exhibition hall and shopping mall at the same time.
I am glad that the buildings here are illuminated even after midnight. In the daytime, you can meet Dongdaemun crepe grandpa around here. Oh, we only have 5 minutes already. Let’s rush to the bus stop. OK, we made it. If we missed this one, we would had to wait for over an hour.
This one will be our last ride for today. This one is what we rode right before. The same staff are on board. This time, we will return right away to Hapjeong, where we started today.
The traffic light is scanned by the lidars and displayed on the information panel, along with the front camera screen. When the self-driving system is on, the purple light is turned on. You can also check the current speed. The quality of the self-driving is not bad, except for some sudden stops.
The system is always being monitored by the on-board staff. It seems that the doors are controlled manually. This bus operates only on weekdays except rainy or snowy days. It comes in every 70 minutes, from PM 11:30 to AM 04:10.
It was recently announced that more autonomous buses would be in service starting in the second half of this year. And this bus will start charging this year, so try it before then! Two cars are in service in this line, and I spotted the other one here. But it seems something happened to it.
God bless you The autonomous driving system is turned off quite often. Now the driver is driving by himself. To be honest, I prefer manual driving because it is smoother than autonomous driving. Maybe I’m not a futuristic person 😂 After the ride of 40 minutes, we finally came back to Hapjeong.
I think it was long enough to experience autonomous driving. Do you want to try this bus, too? Visit Seoul and enjoy the future of transportation! Welcome back to Hapjeong. The bus will come back after around 30 minutes. So I decided to wait for the next bus to come to film it.
I will be at the opposite side of the bus stop. 30 minutes is not a big deal with these heated chairs. Yeah, this is Korea I love. Here’s the next bus! But the video was not clearer than I expected ;( This is the last bus of the day, departing at AM 04:10.
Cheer up, there’s one hour until you go home! Have a safe day. And that’s all for today’s video! If you liked it, please subscribe to my channel and watch my other videos! As always, thank you for watching.
Since the end of the last year, Seoul started to operate autonomous late-night buses from Hapjeong to Dongdaemun. They have a self-driving system, so they do not need any driver. And it is totally free! Today, I tried the bus and roamed around downtown Seoul, seeing traditional buildings and enjoying ramyeon(Korean style ramen) at an unmanned store. Get on board with me and explore Seoul with autonomous buses!
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#Korea #Seoul #Bus #Unmanned