SK’s Tmap enhances ESG efforts by navigating lowest-carbon routes

South Korea’s leading mobility platform Tmap Mobility Co. has stepped up its environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts via its navigation service and driver safety monitoring program over the past years, the company said on Monday.

Tmap is under SK Square Co., the investment firm spun off from Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. The mobility platform was valued at 2.2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) when it attracted a 200 billion won investment from KB Kookmin Bank last August.

Tmap said it is estimated to have cut around 8.9 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the last eight years by providing drivers on the fastest routes to destinations and coaching them on fuel-efficient driving habits. The reduction is equivalent to the annual carbon absorption of 8,228 square kilometers of 30-year-old pine forests, according to the company.

The mobility platform said it has also decreased the chances of traffic accidents by monitoring driver safety. It is estimated to have saved around 657.2 billion won in costs over the past five years, based on the calculation of reduced possibilities of accident rates, the number of subscribers to its safe driving program and the average cost of car accidents.

Tmap has provided its navigation service to local smartphone users for free since 2016. The number of people using the mobility platform is more than 20 million, about 37% of smartphone subscriptions in the country.

The company will commercialize the so-called eco route later this year, a navigation system that points drivers to routes that will result in the lowest carbon emissions considering road conditions such as slopes and curves.

It will become a leader in the eco-friendly mobility industry for sustainable growth, said Tmap Chief Executive Lee Jong-ho. The platform will strive to integrate future mobility services for autonomous driving vehicles and urban air mobility, as well as for existing means of transportation, Lee added.

Write to Jung Dong Noh at dong2@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.