Bike-Sharing is an initiative newly introduced in Singapore to allow users to move from point to point by picking up a bicycle at any self-service bike station and returning it to a similar station at a different point.
Sounds like a great alternative to a) actually owning a bike and b) taking public transport for short trips. Then, along comes the East Coast-Fengshan Town Council who made the news on Mar 18 for issuing removal notices on shared bicycles parked at racks in Bedok Town Centre. Odd thing is, they’re the only Town Council to enforce this rule.
The ambitious national scheme for bike-sharing seems to have been shelved indefinitely by the big G as well. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced last Friday that “ongoing plans by the private dockless bicycle-sharing system operators have obviated the need for a government-run system backed by government grants”.
The statement also added that they will “continue to monitor developments in the bicycle-sharing landscape, and introduce new plans if necessary.”
But hold on to your horses (or bikes, in this case), it’s not as if LTA is completely giving up on the bike-sharing scheme. To complement efforts to push Singapore into a car-lite society, designated bike parking zones have gone into full effect. Demarcated by its bright yellow lines, the space within provides a total of 750 extra parking spaces for bikes located at Punggol, Hougang, Paya Lebar, Khatib, Sembawang, Pioneer and Lakeside.
Obike, one of the bike-sharing operators has posted on Facebook their advice on the different parking zones for bike-sharing bicycles:
According Channel News Asia, LTA has stated that they will “continue to increase bicycle parking capacity at the various public transport nodes,” and that they’re “working with the dockless bicycle-sharing operators to incentivise their users to park responsibly.”
Continue that #healthlife by making use of those bikes, folks, and remember to park them in convenient spaces.
