After the recent e-scooter footpath ban was passed in Parliament, many food delivery riders who rely on their PMDs to make a living were left frustrated.

A solution that’s been put forth by the government was to set up a Transition Assistance Package to help delivery riders switch from e-scooters to bicycles, power assisted bicycles (PAB), and personal mobility aids (PMA).

But the riders were still not on board with the changes.

Most of them have turned up at various meet-the-people sessions (MPS) to voice their concerns.

GrabFood rider vlogged his delivery

One GrabFood rider, who is against the new law, took to YouTube to show the struggles he had to face because of the ban.

He uploaded a video on Nov. 11 titled, “PMD rider walks to customer's place | $7m grant useful or useless?” on his YouTube channel, Guide to GrabFood.

Here is the full video:

At the start of the video, the rider reminded his viewers of the different areas that PMDs are not allowed on.

The areas include footpaths, grass, roads and drains.

He was careful not to break any of the law during his journey.

Travelled on foot

The rider was tasked to deliver a bubble tea from Century Square mall to Block 458 at Tampines Street 42.

The distance is not that far but there aren't many park connector networks (PCN) along the way.

So there was only one solution left for the rider.

He had to travel the entire journey on foot, whilst pushing his e-scooter with him.

At around the 10-minute mark, he said:

"I mean, no problem for me. I can walk, I can do this — push my PMD and walk to the customer’s place.

If there’s a cycling path, I will cycle. Not a problem for me, not a problem if you were to do one trip."

However, he admitted that he would only perform that one trip before going home to sleep as it was very tiring.

Other riders are not as fortunate as him

The rider also took the opportunity to raise awareness on other food delivery riders who are not as fit or fortunate as him.

He remarked that some riders have physical disabilities that prevent them from changing to another form of transport, while others can only rely on food delivery jobs due to their inadequate academic qualifications.

He also expressed some of his thoughts on the S$7 million e-scooter Trade-in Grant.

In the video's description box, he wrote:

"In regards to the S$7m grant, my thoughts is that in the first place if you allow PMD users to ride on the road as an alternative route to make delivery, that would have solve everything in the first place as not only it reduces accident rates to pedestrians, it also makes our tiny path less congested.

If our dear Singaporean minister would have thought about this a little thoroughly instead of making a decision for an overnight ban, you would not only save yourself S$7 million dollars but also both pedestrians and PMD riders would be glad (probably not the motorists).

I understand that this is a great step ahead as it deters our current young punks to potentially quit riding however it probably makes no difference for us food delivery riders as either way we still need to get from point A to B hence the above thought – to allow PMD riders to ride on the road in the first place.”

Delivery took about 30 minutes

At around the 17 minute mark, his walking pace slowed down.

He said:

"To this customer, if you are watching this video, too bad. This is the current law. I follow the law. So I apologise if I take very long. I apologise if your drink already melted. (sic)"

Eventually, after about 30 minutes, he finally reached the customer's block and delivered the bubble tea.

Lam Pin Min explained reasons for the ban

During a closed-door session at Anchorvale Community Club on Tuesday, Nov. 12, night, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min explained that the decision for the footpath ban came after “looking at this situation for a long time”.

He also said that the government is working with food delivery companies to facilitate with the transition.

Top photo via Guide to GrabFood/YouTube.

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