It’s called “NUBIJA,” and as Government acronyms go, this is a rather fun one:
Nearby Useful Bike, Interesting Joyful Attraction.
In Korean the word “nubija” also roughly translates to “let’s go together,” and indeed today NUBIJA was all of these things.
We were given a tour Changwon’s rather high-tech bicycle system and control center today along with about 200 dignitaries, politicians, and media. I was laughing at the site of us — a big group of smiling people in suits on bikes — the entire way. They system is the first of its kind in Korea and was developed by the Changwon government as a service to residents.
NUBIJA contains some 4,000 bicycles, and costs roughly $20 USD per year for a resident to have unlimited access to bicycles at any of the 230 terminals with the simple swipe of an RF card.
Here are some photos from the ride…
