| Brussels, 29 June 2006
The 5th Asia-Pacific Congress and Exhibition and the IPTS Conference organised by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) closed their doors on Friday after one week dedicated to innovation in all the fields of public transport.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government hosted the event that gathered 2,400 visitors coming from 41 countries, as well as 74 exhibitors representing the most important and innovative actors of the sector.
UITP dedicated its closing ceremony to modernity and handed out three awards for innovation:
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LG CNS Co, Ltd and Korea Smart Card Co, Ltd received the "Most innovative IT exhibit" award for their implementation of an electronic fare collecting system: T-Money. The T-Money card allows the transfer of all the necessary information to calculate fare from the passenger to a data warehouse. In the data warehouse information is treated in order to charge the appropriate fare and settle daily revenue to operating companies making fare payment easier. |
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Seoul Metro received the "Most innovative exhibit" award from the hands of Kang Kyung Ho, Chairman of UITP Asia-Pacific and UITP Vice-President, for the modernisation of their track system. Seoul Metro has shifted from the traditional ballasted tracks to slab tracks, which ease the maintenance of the network. |
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The UITP Asia-Pacific Executive Committee rewarded the Seoul Metropolitan Government for its "Innovations in Policy". The Seoul city government completed revamping its public transportation system in July 2004. It resulted in a reduction in traffic congestion and a 5.2 % augmentation in the number of bus and metro users on a daily basis. |
"In the Asia-Pacific Region, Korea plays an important role in promoting public transport. I am very glad that this Congress also gave us the opportunity to learn from the very innovative projects and schemes which have been developed in your country," said Roberto Cavalieri, UITP President.
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