Group of food-delivery riders asks for 6-month ‘probation’ to use e-scooters on roads or footpaths

SINGAPORE — About 70 food-delivery riders have appealed to the authorities with a proposal to set a six-month probation period for them to use e-scooters on footpaths or roads as part of their work.

Wearing their food-delivery attire, they turned up on Monday (Nov 11) evening at a meet-the-people session held in Taman Jurong, where Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Mr Ang Wei Neng, also an MP for the GRC, sat in to hear their appeal because Mr Tharman was overseas. After the session, which lasted close to two hours, Mr Ang said that he would submit their appeal to the relevant authorities.

During the session, emotions ran high and things got heated as various delivery riders spoke and told Mr Ang their frustrations.

This was after Mr Kelvin Ho, 33, a full-time GrabFood delivery rider, spoke on behalf of those present, asking the authorities to allow them to use footpaths or roads as a test to see if any accidents or “road rage” happens.

Mr Ho said: “Instead of (letting us switch) from personal mobility devices (PMDs) to power-assisted bicycles, let us have a six-month probation as a trial… (If this works), the Government can then decide whether to let us continue by extending the probation period while the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is still building more park connectors.”

PMDs could be allowed on roads if there are no park connectors available along their routes during this six-month period, he suggested.

Mr Ho also said that if the proposal is accepted, all riders should abide by a set of rules, such as riding at 10km/h when on a footpath and alerting pedestrians of their presence with a bell or “a friendly tap on the shoulder” before overtaking or bypassing them. This is especially the case at park connector networks and shared paths, which are mostly occupied by pedestrians, who are “either on the wrong sides or occupy both sides”, he observed.

If the trial does not work, Mr Ho said that at least the delivery riders are able to still earn some money during the probation period and get enough savings “to change to another transport type”.

The use of e-scooters on footpaths was banned last Tuesday (Nov 5) and riders were given one day’s notice of the ban.

They can use e-scooters now only on bicycle paths and park-connector networks but not on roads.

The ban does not apply to bicycles, kick scooters and personal mobility aids, such as motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

The sudden announcement prompted numerous food-delivery riders to take their frustrations to MPs at various meet-the-people sessions. Petitions were also started to try to reverse the ban.

A few days later on Nov 8, the Government announced that together with food-delivery companies Foodpanda, GrabFood and Deliveroo, a S$7 million e-scooter trade-in grant was set up for riders who need to get new transport to stay on the job.

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They will receive a grant of up to S$1,000 each to switch to an electric bicycle (e-bike) or a personal mobility aid, and a grant of up to S$600 each to switch to a bicycle.

To qualify, they must be an existing delivery rider with one of the three companies and must surrender their e-scooters at disposal points located at Grab, Deliveroo or Foodpanda’s premises, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said.

The ban came about after several accidents involving e-scooters and pedestrians as well as other road users. One cyclist died in September after a collision with an e-scooter rider.

SHOUTS AND TEARS

During his appeal at the session on Monday, Mr Ho told Mr Ang and those present that the ban was akin to the Government “killing one part of this nation to save another part” and “it shouldn’t be this way”.

“It’s about us living together… give and take, having mutual respect and understanding.”

In the 10-page appeal letter written as “a petition on behalf of all PMD food delivery couriers, to allow the use of PMDs on designated footpaths”, the group of riders said that “without improvement to the current infrastructure, there will be no real solution to the problem brought about by errant PMD users".

“We do not have good infrastructure for e-bikes and bicycles and are merely pushing the problem from footpaths to roads,” they added.

As the night progressed, delivery riders started standing up and yelling their grievances. Some were depending on their job to bring in money, some were struggling to take care of young children. Others got emotional and teary when talking about their circumstances.

Riders then shouted for the ban to be reversed, drawing cheers and claps from the crowd.

A few riders told TODAY after the meeting that the grant to help them get alternative transport will not be able to resolve some of the issues that have cropped up, such as rider safety on roads and those who have medical and health conditions who cannot cycle for long distances or hours.

Earnings are also reduced when delivering food on bicycles because it is slower.

Mr Raymond Tan, 35, a full-time food-delivery rider, said: “You are putting 7,000 food-delivery partners on the road to either get banged or killed. Wouldn’t that lead us back to square one... isn’t that very dangerous?”

This was the third time he has attended meet-the-people sessions at different GRCs regarding the ban.

Mr Muhammad Noor, 40, who has been a delivery rider for two years, said that switching over to power-assisted bicycles would result in a loss of his daily earnings.

“PMDs are faster and we can ride on the footpaths, but for e-bikes you need to park somewhere to avoid blocking people. They also can’t fit in lifts… PMDs (are just) easier for us to do the job.”

Mr Noor has tried using an e-bike to deliver food, but managed to take on half the number of orders a day compared with using an e-scooter.

Speaking to reporters after the session, Mr Ang said: “I think (there were) useful comments made and MOT will definitely look at (them) very seriously. After today, we will send this petition to MOT as I promised to (the delivery riders). We will do that immediately.”

Mr Ang, who is also chairman of Jurong-Clementi Town Council, was asked by reporters about a separate matter during the interview — the warning issued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to the town council because firefighters were unable to use hose reels during a blaze on Nov 1.

While rescuing three residents from a Bukit Batok flat during a fire, SCDF personnel found that several of the hose-reel cabinets were padlocked and there was no water supply when they tried to use one of the hoses.

Mr Ang said that the town council will respond on the matter soon.