The duties and powers to regulate the use of bicycles, personal mobility devices (PMDs) and power-assisted bicycles (PABs) are divided between the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Traffic Police.

Last year's Active Mobility Act provides LTA officers with the powers to deal with errant users of these vehicles on public paths.

But, with the increased use of PMDs and PABs, there is only so much that Active Mobility Enforcement Officerscan do, even with more manpower, as such users are all over the island.

It is time for both the LTA's enforcement unit and Traffic Police to merge into one for better synergy.

With the merger, the Traffic Police can help book errant PMD, bicycle and PAB users on shared public paths.

Since PABs, and soon e-scooters, have to be registered, the Traffic Police can issue summonses based on the registration plates.

Likewise, the Active Mobility Enforcement Officers would be able to catch errant motorists on roads or even use their speed guns to track speeding drivers.

The Traffic Police and LTA are used to conducting joint enforcement operations against road offenders.

So, why not merge the two agencies together?

It does not help that, at present, offences such as riding non-compliant devices on public paths and riding PABs on footpaths are under the Active Mobility Act, while offences such as riding PMDs or non-compliant or unregistered PABs on public roads are under the jurisdiction of the Road Traffic Act.

Merging these two Acts will also be beneficial.

Cheng Choon Fei