Volunteers helping to keep Singapore's public paths safe will have greater authority in their efforts to rein in errant cyclists and personal mobility device (PMD) users.
Twenty-five active mobility patrol (AMP) volunteers have been trained to be public path wardens.
They will be given cards identifying them as representatives of the Land Transport Authority (LTA), along with the power to issue advisories to errant riders and take down their particulars.
They can exercise their powers once the Active Mobility Act comes into force later this year.
Wardens who witness reckless riding or disputes on the paths can, as a last resort, take videos and photos of the incident, and send the details to LTA.
LTA will then assess the details and may take action against offenders. Both volunteer public path wardens and active mobility patrol volunteers cannot carry out enforcement actions.
However, The Sunday Times understands that wardens can call on the police for assistance if errant riders refuse to obey orders.
The new scheme comes after the active mobility patrol volunteers, who number over 800, asked for more support from LTA to deal with reckless riders, said LTA chief executive Ngien Hoon Ping yesterday.
Speaking at an event in Buona Vista to honour more than 200 active mobility patrol volunteers, he thanked them for helping Singapore as its walkways become more crowded with pedestrians, cyclists and PMD users. "Together, we will create a liveable, pleasant and sustainable car-lite nation," he said.
Deputy project director Rajanayagam Sarvananthan, 52, one of the 25 new wardens, said: "Previously some people wouldn't listen to us. Now the new cards from LTA will help us communicate effectively with the public. It will help us to perform our role even better."
Retiree Kathleen Goh, 70, an active mobility patrol volunteer since April last year, said she will be more confident in facing errant riders in her new role as a warden. She made clear, however, that she will take down someone's personal particulars only as a last resort. "I know I will have to be prudent in my judgment."
LTA said it plans to train more active mobility patrol volunteers to become public path wardens.
