Bike-sharing firms will have to ensure that their bicycles are parked within designated zones in Housing Board estates, parks and park connectors, and at MRT stations and bus stops by the end of the year.

This is part of an agreement which SG Bike, GBikes, Mobike, oBike and ofo - which have about 30,000 bikes between them - signed with the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Since shared bikes made their debut in January, some complaints have surfaced about them being parked haphazardly. In the first seven months, 278 bikes were impounded for this reason.

As part of the new agreement, firms will also have to take faulty bikes off the road within a day and provide public liability insurance for users. Operators have also agreed to share anonymous trip data with the LTA, that will allow the authority to see high usage areas to determine where parking zones and cycling paths should be located.

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