I'm writing this after seeing a post below about the Han River bike path.
First, we need to clarify the scope of what we usually call the 'bike path.'
Common perception (enthusiasts): people call only the area inside the red line in the image below—i.e. the 'section where bikes ride'—the bike path.
If you go to the Han River Management Corporation with this concept and ask "Is the Han River bike path bike-only?"
the answer you get back is "No, the Han River bike path is a shared path for both bikes and pedestrians."
This is registered in the FAQ too, which only causes more confusion.
Hearing that answer, some enthusiasts
interpret it as "
Huh? So then the bike path isn't bike-only, and it's fine if pedestrians come onto it? So it means everyone can just use it together?"
To give the conclusion up front, this interpretation is (in principle) wrong.
Because,
the root cause is a mismatch between the concept of 'bike path' as the Han River Management Corporation originally intends it, and what some enthusiasts think 'bike path' means.
Administrative definition (Han River Management Corporation): the entire route, combining both the [bike travel section] and the [pedestrian travel section], is defined as the 'bike path.'
In other words, it's only called "shared" because two spaces sit side by side within a single road,
while the right-of-way for each section remains separate.
So you need to keep in mind that the word "shared" doesn't mean pedestrians are allowed to walk on the bike-travel section.
But even so, they'll only ever answer with "only bikes and PMs may travel on the bike-travel section,"
and they keep avoiding giving a definitive answer of "it's bike-only."
This is probably down to practical administrative reasons.
If they nail it down as bike-only, then a 30,000-won fine would apply whenever a pedestrian trespasses onto the bike path.
But they can't exactly station an officer along every stretch of the Han River bike path, right?
Honestly, from our own point of view too, we should probably be grateful for that..
Does everyone actually walk their bike at the crosswalk before heading up to Namsan??
For Namsan, if an officer were stationed there, the stretch is short enough that you could reasonably walk your bike the whole way,
but when you're crossing a long bridge like Haengju Bridge, do you get off and walk your bike the whole way across? Riding it means a 30,000-won fine...
if we go looking, we'd probably find plenty of rules we're breaking ourselves too ㅠ
My conclusion is just this.. everyone uses the Han River Park bike path anyway—whether it's walking or running, people aren't going to stop just because they're told not to
so let's just all be careful with each other!! That's my take.
