LTA hopes to get private vendors to operate an islandwide bicycle rental system
By
Yeo Ghim Lay
In Paris, a system called Velib has over 20,000 bicycles at more than 1,400 stations. Cyclists can rent a hike and drop it off at another station for a fee. -- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) is thinking of setting up bicycle kiosks at MRT stations to get more people to take to two-wheelers.
Next: Segregated bus lanes, trams?
TRAMS and segregated bus lanes are among the options being studied by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) as the public transport system here is overhauled.
But the urban landscape and weather here may make these options unsuitable, said LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee yesterday.
These kiosks, if built, will rent out bicycles and even provide bike-washing services and parking facilities.
LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said yesterday that the idea was being studied, and added: 'We are looking to see how interested private vendors are to participate and provide these services.'
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural World Urban Transport Leaders Summit.
At least one bicycle shop now offers this kind of service - The Bike Boutique at Amoy Street. For $80 a month, its customers who ride to work in the city park their bikes in the shop.
Their bikes are washed there, and the cyclists use the store's shower facilities to freshen up before work. Store manager Tay Choon Wei, 30, said he has 60 customers now, thrice the number in 2004.
If public bicycle kiosks do take off, they will be the latest in a series of measures to cater to the growing number of cyclists here.
Earlier this year, the LTA said it would install more bicycle racks at MRT stations and bus interchanges, so people can park their bicycles before making the rest of the journey on public transport.
An ongoing trial allows foldable bicycles to be carried on board buses and trains during certain hours.
Besides these moves, bike lanes are cutting through towns like Tampines, where a trial to allow cyclists on footways has been extended.
It is unclear now how bicycle rental kiosks will operate, but other cities give some pointers.
In Paris, a system called Velib has over 20,000 bicycles spread over more than 1,400 stations. A cyclist may pick up a bike at one station and drop it off at another for fees ranging from ¥1 (S$1.90) for a day to ¥29 for a year.
In Montreal, Canada, a public bicycle system nicknamed Bixi debuted in September with 40 bikes, each with a radio-frequency tag so it can be tracked.
When a user is done with the bike, he parks it at a solar-powered bicycle station, which has facilities to accept cash and credit-card payments. Bixi, which will roll out another 2,300 bikes by early next year, made it to the 19th spot on Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2008.
No islandwide bike rental system exists in Singapore now; TownBike, NTUC Income's initiative, runs only in Bukit Batok.
Mr Ong Kian Min, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, yesterday welcomed the idea of public bicycle kiosks, and suggested that bike shops suss out the demand and come up with some proposals.
The Bike Boutique's Mr Tay said government support is vital for such a system to get off the ground. 'The kiosks will also have to be managed well to ensure that they are not misused,' he said.
