On our final planned-out day in South Korea, we’ve returned to Seoul to learn about Seoul’s widest-reaching smart system: its transport systems. The Seoul Transport Operation & Information Service (TOPIS) is a collection of countless cameras, sensors, and servers, all communicating in tandem to keep Seoul’s streets safe, swift, and efficient. From the TOPIS offices in Seoul City Hall, government employees can manage any aspect of the public transport system entirely remotely. From shutting down lanes in the case of an accident to monitoring city-owned self-driving vehicles to ensure the passengers are attentive, the TOPIS systems are able to connect every resident of the city.
Continuing the presentation, our representative described TOPIS’ automatic ticketing system, which allows the collection of sensors and smart systems throughout the city to send out fines and citations to drivers for violating laws on the road. Luckily, this system also has an appeals process, so any judgement made by the system is not final. A majority of the citations handed out by the TOPIS system are for lane violations, traffic violations, and similar minor infractions.
The best part of this system is the digital nature of it. Of course, the automated system is nice, but the way all of these important notices are then sent directly to an app on citizens’ phones is beyond useful. Instead of relying solely on paper tickets and online portals, all infractions are sent directly to an individual’s phone to be paid. Furthermore, any important travel notices or advisories are sent in a similar fashion, ensuring that all citizens are informed and present at a moment’s notice.
We ended the day with a cooking class where we made Gimbap and Japchae. Given pre-portioned ingredients and utensils, we were guided through the process by the head chef. The entire experience was so fun! Throughout my first year of college, I missed having my kitchen at home so much, and this part of the trip thoroughly reinforced my desire to cook again when I get home. The cooks leading us were all very supportive (no matter how awful we were at it), and as somebody with a food allergy, seeing my entire cooking space was separate from the others made my entire trip. My greatest struggle in Korea was finding safe food to eat, and having the opportunity to eat cultural food and know for certain it was safe was so nice. I loved the experience, and I honestly thing I did a pretty good job at it, especially considering I haven’t worked with most of the ingredients we used before today.
