New QR code parking system for shared bikes will charge, ban errant cyclists from January

SINGAPORE — A new Quick Response (QR) code parking system for shared bicycles — under which errant users could be barred from using the service for a limited period — will be implemented islandwide from January next year, as part of the authorities' move to clamp down on indiscriminate parking.

Shared-bike users who do not park properly and fail to scan the QR code at designated parking spaces when they park their bikes will be charged S$5 by licensed operators, while those who park any shared bike indiscriminately at least three times in a calendar year will be banned from using all sharing services operated by different companies for up to a year.

Announcing on Tuesday (Sept 25) that it is installing the QR codes progressively from the end of September, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the system will support its efforts to encourage responsible parking through the new bicycle-sharing licensing regime which takes effect from next month.

The LTA will kick off a public education campaign from early October to teach shared-bike users how to end their trips with the QR codes. It also gave an update on its efforts to improve access to bicycle parking.

With the help of partner agencies, the LTA has added 7,000 public bicycle parking spaces at convenient locations including public transport nodes, housing void decks and public parks, to augment the existing 207,000 public bicycle parking spaces across the island.

With the addition of these spaces, more than 99 per cent of public-housing residents are within a five-minute walk — or about 400m — from bicycle parking.

Accessibility of these spaces from private homes and key destinations has also improved: 90 per cent of private residences and 80 per cent of key destinations were within a five-minute walk from bicycle parking at the start of this year, and that has increased to 95 per cent and 97 per cent respectively today.

The LTA said it is working to expand the bicycle parking capacity islandwide, with the aim of providing 267,000 parking spaces by 2020.

BACKGROUND

• The new licensing regime for bicycle sharing kicks in next month as part of the authorities' move to clamp down on indiscriminate bicycle parking, so that only operators with responsible and sustainable bicycle management plans can operate here.

• Under the amended Parking Places Act, bike-sharing companies are required to apply for a licence to operate here.

• Operators have to fork out S$60 for every bicycle deployed — comprising a licensing fee and a security deposit — on top of a S$1,500 application fee.

• As part of the licensing conditions, operators will have to properly regulate indiscriminate bicycle parking.