Adding racks, designated zones among ideas to curb indiscriminate bike parking

SINGAPORE — With shameful acts like indiscriminate parking and even bike-dumping increasingly popping up, town councillors have started thinking of ways to counter the potentially growing menace, such as adding more bicycle racks and setting aside zones solely for shared bikes.

Although operators of bike-sharing services have imposed penalty schemes to deal with inconsiderate users, examples of rogue behaviour continue to appear, with some of these bicycles being dumped at empty plots of land or being chained up outside flats.

Town councillors TODAY interviewed said complaints from residents about the problem are still far and few, but noted that they were monitoring the situation closely and are considering some measures.

Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council chairman Zainal Sapari said some residents have asked for extra spaces to park bicycles at the foot of housing blocks, citing it as a possible way to curb indiscriminate parking. The suggestion is still being studied because considerations must be made for other uses of void decks, such as for weddings and wakes, he noted.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak said that while the situation is still manageable at Sembawang Town Council, they are looking to trial designated parking spaces at common areas for shared bikes, marked out by yellow boxes.

On Thursday, bike-sharing firm oBike said it was introducing a community-policing system to address the issue of indiscriminate parking. To deter inconsiderate behaviour, up to 20 points will be deducted from a user’s credit score if he/she parks the bicycle at non-designated parking areas. On the other hand, someone who reports such instances will have three points added to his/her account. The points affect the cost of renting the bikes — the fewer points one has, the higher the price.

Mobike has a similar credit system to incentivise good behaviour, while Ofo is offering vouchers ranging from S$2 to S$20 in value this month to users who help move its bicycles which are indiscriminately parked to designated parking areas.

Chairman of Nee Soon Town Council Louis Ng said workers are deployed to move bikes parked improperly, such as in front of homes or by lamp posts. And while the schemes introduced by the operators could be effective, he hoped that “we don’t always rely on punishments to shape the right behaviours”.

He added: “We encourage our residents to be more civic-minded and gracious in the use and acceptance of shared bicycles in our estate.”

Jurong-Clementi Town Council chairman Ang Wei Neng said that the situation of unauthorised parking of bicycles could be better managed.

He added that it will be launching an event at the end of this month, in collaboration with the bike-sharing companies, to “encourage parking of bikes at the correct places”.

Residents of several towns TODAY interviewed on Friday (April 14) said they have noticed more shared bikes in their midst in the past month or so.

Checks at Woodlands, Pasir Ris, Bedok and Jurong East showed that most shared bikes were parked at designated parking bays at MRT stations, or at void decks. But some were parked just outside parking bays, or crammed in at full racks.

Pasir Ris resident Francis Toh, 30, said he has seen some being parked beside lamp posts along pedestrian walkways, obstructing the way.

Mr Mohd Jufri, 42, who lives in Woodlands and has used the shared bikes, recounted seeing a shared bike left at a lift landing.

He said: “I make sure the bike is parked at the right and correct location. The inconsiderate behaviour of others is putting us (shared bike users) in a bad light.”