※ Introducing Korea’s Best Practice of Local Governments for Older Persons. This is a monthly report that aims to introduce examples of outstanding policies and practices adopted by local and municipal governments in; Korea to help older persons exercise their human rights. These examples are selected with reference to the report ‘Human Rights to be Included in the New UN Convention on the Rights of Older People’, published by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in 2018. While various attempts have been made by local and municipal governments in Korea to improve the well-being of older persons, they are not very well known outside the country. ASEM Global Ageing Center (AGAC) aims to fill this gap by introducing in depth the best practices local governments have implemented in the interests of older persons.

 

The second case that AGAC has selected is the ‘Automatic Walking Signal Extension System’, introduced by Changwon-si (‘si’ refers to a district unit with a population size of around 50,000), which itilizes an artificial intelligence (AI) system to automatically extend the walking signal time at a pedestrian crossing.   

 

* ​Artificial intelligence detects pedestrians who have not completed their crossing during a given walking signal time, and automatically extends it by 5 to 10 seconds. When a pedestrian who wants to enter the crossing late, a crosswalk entry ban alarm goes off and an electronic display informs drivers that there are people on the crossing.

 

 

A System for Protecting Vulnerable Pedestrians Using Artificial Intelligence:

Changwon-si's Automatic Walking Signal Extension System.

 

 

Technological advances are progressing at a rapid pace and are increasingly affecting our lives. Artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI) is one of the major areas of development in science and technology. Although the definition of AI is diverse and cannot be limited to one category, this report defines it as a system that acts like a human being (Turing, 2009). In Korea, AI is commercialized in various fields such as data mining, voice recognition, computers, and robots. The areas to which AI has been applied have been expanded.

 

In Korea, AI is contributing to improving older persons’ quality of life. AI has already become an important part of the care and medical fields. For instance, care robots can relieve the isolation and loneliness of older persons living alone, and prevent a lonely death. AI is being applied in various ways not only in improving the quality of life of individuals but also in the social and public fields. This report introduces Changwon-si's Automatic Walking Signal Extension System to protect vulnerable pedestrians as a representative example of AI designed to serve the interests of the community.

 

Changwon-si has been operating the country's first Automatic Walking Signal Extension System since November 2021. It was installed in accordance with National Police Agency standards as a pilot project. This system automatically extends crossing time by 5 to 10 seconds when it recognizes pedestrians who have not managed to cross within the regular signal time. In order to protect vulnerable pedestrians and prevent accidents, the system was installed in the children's protection area in front of Yongho Elementary School in Uichang-gu, Yongho-dong, Changwon-si. Although this system was installed in a children’s protection area, it is also beneficial to the older persons and other vulnerable pedestrians. (Project budget of Automatic Walking Signal Extension System is about 41 million KRW, about twice as much as the installation cost of general traffic lights of 20 million KRW) 

 

 

 

Efficiency Test (Source: Changwon-si New Transportation Division)