SEOUL, South Korea—Our friends in this Asian nation have developed a sheaf of ingenious transportation strategies.

My personal favorite: elevated bike freeways. The idea is to foster cycling in busy world cities by constructing two-directional bike tracks, enclosed in glass tubes mounted above commuter routes. Commuters could pedal in or out of town, no red lights or threatening trucks, in temperature-controlled comfort. Likely result: fewer cars on the roads, reduced carbon emissions, and a healthier population.

Another idea: automated container transport. Why should trucks laden with massive containers clog highways, block drivers’ views, and exacerbate traffic perils? Why not substitute a totally separated, high-efficiency, nonstop conveyor belt? Here in South Korea it could run roughly parallel to the ever-more-crowded 260-mile superhighway stretch between Busan, the country’s busy seaport, and Seoul, its capital and top city. Parallel opportunities exist worldwide.

Next idea: Spread out the fearsome roadway demand that often clogs motorways around major holidays. How? By advance reservations, much like an airplane booking. Motorists would go online to book their own time slot, entering the tollgates during their chosen hour. The reservation system would automatically restrict the available slots, by hour, to a reasonable traffic flow. Variable hour pricing could even spread out demands and give every driver a chance to avoid tie-ups.

These are just some of the liberating, fresh ideas that have emerged from South Korea’s Transport Institute (KOTI), a 27-year-old government-funded entity that keeps the statistics on all varieties of transportation in the country but is also allowed to think freely—and report to the public—about potential future modes and formulas.

Korea’s early and bold initiatives, KOTI officials recently told a delegation of Asian rim journalists organized by the East-West Center in Honolulu, have been essential ingredients of the dramatic transformation of South Korea. From one of Asia’s poorest countries at its birth in 1948, it’s been able to star in recent years as an “Asian tiger,” one of the world’s wealthiest nations.

A top example of national foresight: the early decision to construct the Seoul-Busan expressway, linking the primarily industrial, coastal, and Seoul/metro portions of the new nation. It was an act of faith: Standard cost-benefit analysis wouldn’t have justified the roadway. In 1970, the first year of full operation, the traffic flow was 150,000 vehicles; today it’s over 18 million.

Other key decisions followed over the years—to open the Busan port, now one of the world’s largest; to inaugurate a country-spanning high-speed rail line; to invest heavily in the Incheon airport (which now receives “world’s best” ratings). Roadway HOV lanes were introduced early, likewise a bus rapid transit system (now 84 miles long, in 13 corridors).

Moral: South Korea has consistently been a step ahead of the game with timely investments that pay off in national productivity—quite the opposite of America’s foot-dragging on new infrastructure for 40-plus years now.

And today is no time to rest on one’s national oars, the KOTI planners insist. South Korea’s official goal, declared in 2008, is a low-carbon, green-growth future, built on response to global climate change.

The planners note that dominant forms of transportation (using the U.S. model) have had roughly 50-year runs. Examples: canals in the 1830s, railways in 1890s, roads and airplanes in the 20th century. What’s next for urban transportation worldwide? The theme, they speculate, might be electric cars, high-efficiency energy systems, or a mixing of those technologies with high density and land regeneration.

But whatever systems evolve, they believe information technology will be at its center. Which explains their blue-sky speculation, inventive ideas of new modes.

One idea they’re exploring is “ECO-driving”—a set of technical adjustments in car manufacturing, combined with driver education, to reduce the fuel-guzzling quick start and acceleration that account for about 60 percent of fuel use.

Another new approach: an intermodal “cloud transport system”—defined as peer-to-peer short-term loans of other subscribers’ bikes or autos for a rental fee, at agreed locations, using a verified Internet exchange/fee system. (A Paris-based system, “Buzzcar,” invented by Zipcar co-founder Robin Chase, is already in operation.)

And then, to make big public transit centers less confusing and off-putting, the planners suggest a smartphone information system that would guide a person through the facility, step by step, to reach any goal from a specific train or bus to a specific exit. Potential result: more people comfortable using transit, fewer cars on the road.

Color any of these ideas as you will—their basic hue is clearly green, in terms of saved energy and thus fewer carbon emissions.

And, in most cases, there’s a social payoff too: enhancing safe and accommodating personal contact among the new systems’ users.

While the devil’s always in the details of new endeavors, one suspects the Koreans are exploring ideas with exciting potential worldwide.

Contact Neal Peirce.
© 2012, The Washington Post Writers Group