The number of accidents involving e-scooters on public paths in Singapore has dropped by about 30 per cent since the ban was enforced on Nov. 5, 2019.
And according to a recent REACH phone poll, two out of three respondents agreed that footpath safety has improved since the ban.
This information was shared by Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min in Parliament on Monday (Jan. 6, 2020) in response to parliamentary questions on the now-fully-in-force path ban submitted by Members of Parliament Zainal Sapari, Ang Wei Neng, and Dennis Tan Lip Fong:
6,000 footpath ban advisories issued last year
From the day the footpath ban (Nov. 5, 2019) was announced until the end of 2019, LTA issued about 6,000 advisories to remind riders of the new rules, and more than 300 summons against reckless riders.
Ever since the ban was enforced on Jan. 1, 2020, some 27 errant riders have been caught.
The LTA has also expanded its team of active mobility enforcement officers, including Auxiliary Police Officers, from 100 to 182 officers. The agency plans to enlarge this pool of enforcement officers to 200 soon, said Lam.
He added that the government expects the number of accidents involving e-scooters to drop as LTA steps up enforcement against errant riders.
Only 57% of eligible delivery riders took up grant
Regarding the transition assistance package that the government rolled out to help delivery riders who were affected by the ban, Lam revealed that there were more than 6,120 food delivery riders who were eligible for the grant.
Out of this number, about 34 per cent (or 2,100) did four or more deliveries per day.
But out of this 6,120 eligible riders, only 3,550 applications were received for the grant as of Dec. 31, 2019. That's about 57 per cent of eligible riders.
Lam subsequently revealed that out of the applicants, about 74% percent wanted to switch to e-bikes, another 25% to bicycles, and less than 1% to Personal Mobility Aids.
Food delivery companies have also stepped up to offer free bicycle rentals to riders who are waiting for their new devices, said Lam.
He said:
"As of 31 December 2019, LTA has received 3,550 applications from eligible riders and approved all applications after accounting for duplicates. 20 per cent of these applicants have transited to alternative devices. To facilitate the transition, food delivery companies have offered free bicycle rentals to the riders who are waiting for their new devices."
For those who have transited to using power-assisted bicycles, NTUC has launched a fully-subsidised safe-riding programme to support them. But as of Dec. 30, 2019, only 130 riders have completed the safe-riding programme.
The LTA is working with the Traffic Police to promote awareness of safe power-assisted bicycle riding, said Lam.
Top file photo by Joshua Lee.