SINGAPORE - The operator bidding to run a proposed bicycle-sharing pilot in the Jurong Lake District will also submit proposals to expand the services to Marina Bay/city centre, as well as Tampines and Pasir Ris.
If so, the island's first large-scale bicycle-sharing programme will potentially comprise 2,300 bicycles and 230 docking stations spread over three locations.
This will be more than double the 1,000 bicycles and 100 docking stations planned, if the scheme was implemented only in the Jurong Lake District.
These details were revealed on Thursday by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which will call a tender on Friday (July 29) to source for an operator for the Government-led bicycle-sharing initiative.
The successful bidder is expected to launch the programme in the Jurong Lake District by the end of 2017.
While tenderers will have to submit proposals to run bicycle-sharing in all three locations, the LTA will make the final call as to whether the scheme will also be implemented in Marina Bay/city centre, along with Tampines and Pasir Ris.
The eight-year pilot is aimed at encouraging more to cycle to commute between homes, nearby amenities and MRT stations and supports the nationwide car-lite movement.
As part of the tender, potential operators will bid for a fixed amount of grant they need in each year of the contract.
This is to help defray the costs of setting up and running the service, which will provide the public with access to a bicycle 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Users can pick up a bicycle at any self-service docking station and return it to any other docking station located within the system's service area. The stations will be spaced about 400m apart.
The LTA will also call a tender to appoint a sponsorship consultant, to help engage sponsors for the programme. Sponsors will be entitled to naming and advertising rights to the bicycle-sharing system.
The Jurong Lake District was chosen as a test-bed because it has been earmarked to be the island's second Central Business District.
