Questions/Answers

The Pink Light Initiative, launched in January 2016, is an innovative public campaign that utilizes high-tech Internet of Things (IoT), using wireless technology in products not usually associated with internet connectivity, to solve an urgent challenge of low birthrate and to promote the transportation convenience of pregnant women. When a woman carrying a pendant-shaped wireless device called a beacon enters range, pink lights near priority seats are activated and a pre-recorded voice message is released to alert everyone that a passenger has a baby on the way. Flashing pink lights help passengers who might be occupying a seat designated for pregnant riders to know they should yield the spot. Pink Light earned a particularly positive response from those in early stages of pregnancy because it is difficult for other passengers to tell whether or not female passengers are pregnant when they are not yet showing despite their suffering from prolonged vomiting and extreme fatigue. The initiative was first implemented on 50 cars of the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit system in 2016, and is now expanded to the 320 seats of Busan Metro Line No. 3. Busan Metropolitan Government is planning to expand Pink Light to all city metro trains and bus service routes, successfully creating an environment of considerateness for the vulnerable within a public transportation system. The innovative Pink Light Initiative has been introduced and covered by the media in Korea and abroad. As more people came to learn about the effort, an outpouring of praise and support for the initiative has been received along with a wide variety of ideas to increase the transportation convenience of the vulnerable. In short, the inventive, low-cost IoT-based initiative successfully raised awareness for the vulnerable on public transportation.

1. To create a culture of protecting pregnant women As of 2017, total fertility rate (TFR) in South Korea was a mere 1.17. Particularly, Busan is at the bottom in terms of TFR with the rate of 1.10. To deal with population shrinkage, the city conducted various measures to boost low birth rate, but none made any significant impact. Eventually, the government understood the necessity of strategic approaches and pursued Pink Light to create a culture friendly to expectant mothers. 2. To change society’s paradigm of providing public service Previous public campaigns to protect pregnant women on mass transit had proved unsuccessful due to their top-down, one-way approach. Therefore, Busan devised Pink Light facilitating public engagement in protecting pregnant women and generated public interest and participation. 3. To ensure women’s right to safe travel Recently, as many passengers are absorbed in smartphones while on a bus or metro train, people may even rarely notice a nearby pregnant woman. Assuming that many of the non-pregnant passengers occupying priority seats are indeed willing to give up their seats to a woman if they are aware she is pregnant, Busan launched Pink Light.

Upon the implementation of the Pink Light Initiative, a culture of consideration for the vulnerable was promoted in society at large since the project reinvented the urban transportation infrastructure into an environment in which the vulnerable and citizens in general would be treated with respect and care. The initiative appropriately responded to the unique needs of pregnant women, one of the most vulnerable groups among various population groups, and provided them with special transportation convenience. In short, the Pink Light Initiative successfully challenges and fights against gender discrimination Korean females face every day.

When a pregnant passenger carrying a beacon enters range, pink lights near priority seats begin to flash and a pre-recorded announcement is made to let other passengers know an expectant mother in onboard. These auditory and visual signals help create a climate where train riders willingly yield their seats to the vulnerable woman. Pink Light has been covered by Korean newspapers and broadcasters, and widely known to the public especially via social media such as YouTube and Twitter. For example, as of February 20, 2018, video clips regarding the initiative boasts 764,224 views on YouTube. As the initiative succeeded in arousing interest and sparking positive responses from not only pregnant women but also many ordinary citizens in Korea, people started to demand that the implementation of Pink Light be expanded to all city metro trains and bus service routes as well as to other cities. Pink Light created an atmosphere where pregnant women feel cared for and supported by society. It is an innovative public scheme that encourages all the members of society to protect and respect the socially vulnerable including pregnant women, and eventually helps establish a culture that does not exclude any section of society.

A declining birth rate is a serious challenge facing South Korea as well as nations around the world. It has negative implications such as a decrease in the working-age population, a weakening of national competiveness, higher tax, increased social security expenditures, shrinking savings, decreased consumption, reduced investment, and decreased economic growth. If such a trend continues over a long period of time, the future prospects for any country can enter desperately dangerous conditions. Therefore, creating and sustaining a culture and environment in which pregnant women feel cared for and protected by society and all its members is of great importance and necessary at both the national and city level.

There have been various policies and campaigns implemented in South Korea to protect and benefit pregnant women, but they have often failed to produce the desired results. One reason why the Pink Light Initiative successfully evoked huge public interest and sparked positive responses from not only pregnant women but also many others ordinary citizens of Korea is because Busan approached the issue from the perspective of expectant mothers. What the city government did was building a notification system that would raise citizens’ awareness and encourage their participation, rather than merely adding priority seats on buses and metro trains. Along with a notification system installed on public transportation, the city government listened to the input of expectant mothers and realized that it can be difficult for other riders to determine whether female passengers are pregnant when they are not yet showing. With that in mind, the city approached the issue strategically to attract citizen participation in the initiative through effective promotion and has applied advanced IoT technologies.

The Pink Light Initiative suggests a new paradigm in providing public service with its use of cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technology to deal with serious social risk of low fertility rate. Applying IoT technology to build a system to protect pregnant women on mass transit was unprecedented in South Korea in terms of providing public service. The IoT technology used in Pink Light operates through radio signals produced via the interaction between beacons and installed sensors. The beacons, a next-generation, short-range wireless communication device based on low-power Bluetooth connectivity, makes it possible to track location even more precisely than using GPS. The initiative is a successful and unique case of integrating innovative IT developments with public campaigns, and indeed, it is the very first case of its kind implemented not only in South Korea but also in the world. Furthermore, Pink Light introduced a new paradigm of providing public services which had previously provided in a top-down manner. However, the initiative employs a two-way approach that successfully creates public interest and participation and induces people on mass transit to give their seats to pregnant women.

Pink Light is an original innovation developed by Busan Metropolitan Government and designed to raise awareness for the vulnerable on public transportation by utilizing advanced IoT technology. Upon the completion of an initial phase of the project in December 2016, the city government conducted interview surveys of 200 beacon users to explore user satisfaction and find out what improvements should be made. The surveys have shown that most of the pregnant women are largely satisfied with the project and 93 per cent To ensure the successful implementation of the project, Busan established a cooperative system among the government, civic society and citizens. Civilian experts in the field of public relations helped develop novel ideas and crafting an image for the initiative, while civilian experts in the areas of ICT were invited to investigate and verify the technical availability and effectiveness. In addition, local university students and citizens played a role in introducing Pink Light and explaining it to pregnant women who ride light rail transit. Such collaboration between the public and private sectors and local citizens combined with the campaign’s advanced operational system have encouraged transit users to proactively take part in the campaign.

In 2016, the city government spent USD 87,500 as a project budget through Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit which included the costs of producing beacons and sensors and the project operation costs. In 2017, 28,000 beacons and 320 sensors were additionally installed to Line No. 3 of Busan Metro, and the total project costs amounted to USD 401,300. The expenses were covered by the fund jointly set up by the city government and the Busan Mass Transit Citizens' Funds Foundation. Municipal budget took up 55 per cent of the fund and the Citizens’ Funds Foundation was responsible for the rest 45 per cent.

Yes

By implementing the Pink Light Initiative, the city government endorsed a new paradigm of protecting the vulnerable on public transport, which makes travel by public transportation friendlier to pregnant women. While Pink Light is currently implemented just for subway lines, the underlying wireless technology can be applied to any system in which a crowd gathers and a certain group is disadvantaged. In addition, a number of other cities in South Korea, including Seoul, the capital, and Daejeon, the fifth-largest metropolis, identified Pink Light as a best practice for protecting expectant mothers on public transit and decided to benchmark the initiative to prepare their own pink light campaigns. The benchmarking of Pink Light demonstrates the viability and transferability of the initiative that provides a valuable solution for pregnant riders. The transferability would be enhanced further by developing a smartphone application to replace a physical beacon, which would obviously reduce production costs. Moreover, the application is expected to have an emergency feature that would dial an emergency telephone number in dangerous circumstances requiring immediate action. The app is also expected to provide a platform for pregnant women to learn and share information and experience of pregnancy and birth.

The Pink Light Initiative employs a convenient and small notification device to inspire considerateness for the vulnerable without feeling forced to yield a seat. Pink Light sensors can be in operation semi-permanently at an initial installation cost. With regard to beacons, the city government is now developing a mobile application which pregnant women could run on their mobile devices after one-time identity verification to replace current beacons. Propagating a Pink Light application will help the city government secure sustainability of the initiative due to the application’s low maintenance cost. Wireless communication devices used in Pink Light are made of environment-friendly and passed various tests by accreditation institutions, including electromagnetic waves tests and physical properties tests. The city government works hard to secure funds for installing Pink Light devices on all the city metro lines and buses, which will give people a chance to think about the vulnerable on public transportation and eventually promote the sense of being considerate for others.

Sensors are programmed to go into a flashing mode so that a passenger on a priority seat easily notices a pregnant passenger approaching. In addition, a pre-recorded announcement is made when a sensor detects the presence of a beacon in close proximity. Sensors contain firmware which can be easily upgraded in order to bring its operating system up to date or to improve its characteristics. Therefore, sensors are semi-permanently usable because their firmware will be incorporating the latest developments. The city government is planning to change sensors’ power supplies from external power supplies to internal ones. With internal power supply units, sensors will be repaired and maintained at the lowest cost and be in operation continuously and steadily without having to worry about changing batteries.

Yes

Since its launch in 2016, the Pink Light Initiative has been evaluated and awarded multiple times by external organizations. For example, the jury of the prestigious New York Festivals Advertising Awards selected Pink Light as one of the finalists in 2016, which was a rare feat for a public service campaign by a local government in South Korea. In addition to its overseas recognition, Pink Light was awarded five times by domestic public relations organizations concerning public services and policy making.

The Pink Light Initiative received public and media attention from both home and overseas with its creative and inventive utilization of IoT technology in delivering public services. The Associated Press, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the Reuters news agency were among notable mass communication firms who took notice of the initiative. In addition, In January 2018, the jury of Dubai International Award for Best Practices selected Pink Light as a good practice, recognizing the successful outputs of the initiative such as improved social infrastructure and enhanced private-public partnership. In addition, positive responses and encouraging messages flooded into the city government through social media. Many citizens expressed their firm support of the campaign in virtual communities and networks, and wrote they would love to live in a city like Busan where the vulnerable are treated with consideration. Naturally, the city image was greatly improved as a city with cutting-edge technology where the vulnerable are firmly protected and respected.

The Pink Light Initiative is, in part, a public campaign to raise awareness of ordinary citizens concerning pregnant women and low birth rate. In this regard, two indices used in the evaluating of Pink Light are advertisement (outdoor, design, and promotion) activities and public relations activities.

To ensure the successful implementation of the initiative, Busan established a private-public cooperative system throughout the entire process from conception to installation. Experts and professionals in the areas of ICT and IoT were invited to investigate and verify the technical availability and effectiveness, as well as testing the system to guarantee it remains free from operational errors. In addition, local university students and citizens actively participated in the promotional activities to explain Pink Light to pregnant women and other travelers on mass transport. Such cooperation between the public and private sectors combined with the initiative’s advanced operational system have encouraged transit users to proactively take part in the initiative. Pink Light is being pursued by the city government together with relevant governmental organizations, the private sector and volunteers. The Public Transportation Division, Communications Planning Division, and Child Welfare Policy Division within the city government have worked in cooperation with experts in the field of global advertising campaigns at every stage from planning to implementation of the project, while the Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit Operation Corporation, an advertising agency, a video production company and a volunteering group composed of local citizens and university students have collectively assisted with the entire process. A promotional group composed of local citizens and university students has also voluntarily taken part in promotional activities Pink Light. Furthermore, the government collaborated with public health clinics and private obstetrician-gynecologist clinics to distribute beacons to pregnant women and to gather critical feedback from expectant mothers to reflect their specific needs on the initiative.

The Pink Light Initiative utilizes a mechanical means to encourage passengers to yield seats to pregnant women on public transportation. The initiative also functions as a cultural means by providing a platform where people can contemplate and appreciate the difficulties women face during pregnancy, birth, and childcare. The initiative makes citizens realize that they don’t have to make a vigorous effort to build a society where people are considerate of and respect others’ needs. Citizens learned that a seemingly insignificant everyday activity such as yielding a seat can be a stepping stone to build a culture of high regard and concern. The success of Pink Light was possible because it evoked public empathy towards the vulnerable and eventually created a sense of solidarity. Upon the implementing of the initiative, the city government learned a valuable lesson that a public policy or campaign can gain legitimacy and sustainability only when it succeeds in raising public awareness and persuading the public to participate actively.