Artist’s impression of the proposed bicycle-sharing infrastructure in Marina Bay / City Centre. Source: Land Transport Authority
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will pilot a self-service bicycle-sharing scheme in the Jurong Lake District (JLD) by end-2017.
To encompass over 1,000 bicycles and 100 docking stations, the scheme will provide the public with access to a bicycle at all times without having to own a bicycle.
Users can pick up a bicycle at any self-service docking station and return it to any other docking station within the system’s service area.
Spaced about 400 metres apart, the stations will allow residents to make short trips from their homes to nearby transport nodes like bus interchanges and MRT stations, where they can return the bicycle and continue their journey on the public transport system.
Meanwhile, the LTA revealed that it will call a tender to appoint an operator who will own, build, operate and maintain the pilot bicycle-sharing scheme in the JLD for eight years, with options to bid to operate a bicycle-sharing scheme in Marina Bay / City Centre as well as Tampines and Pasir Ris.
The LTA added that it will provide a grant to defray parts of the costs involved in setting up and operating the bicycle-sharing pilot in the JLD. The potential operators will bid for a fixed amount of grant they need in each year of the contract.
Aside from appointing an operator for the bicycle-sharing scheme, the LTA will also call a tender to appoint a sponsorship consultant, who will work with it to engage suitable sponsors. Much like other bicycle-sharing systems in global cities like Santander Cycle in London and Citibike in New York, these sponsors will receive advertising and naming rights to the bicycle sharing system.
“This is the first public bicycle-sharing scheme that will be implemented on such a large scale in Singapore. We believe this will catalyse take-up of cycling as it provides a convenient and healthy way to commute between homes, nearby amenities and the MRT stations,” said LTA Chief Executive Chew Men Leong.
“Through the pilot, we will study the scheme’s feasibility and determine if and how it can be extended to other residential towns as well,” he added.
The scheme is in line with the government’s efforts to facilitate cycling and to improve first-and-last-mile connectivity to key amenities and public transport nodes.
By 2030, over 700 kilometres of cycling paths will be provided island-wide under the National Cycling Plan.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
