Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Hany Soh has spoken out on improving facilities for food delivery riders once again.

Soh made it a point in her maiden speech during the last Parliament sitting in September 2020 to highlight having a grace period and designated pick-up points as "win-win" solutions.

It would solve the issue of illegal parking and improve the food delivery process, she said.

Second time voicing out for delivery riders in Parliament

On Oct. 5, Soh filed a question to the Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, to ask whether all car parks under Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) can implement transitional parking of at least 15 minutes grace period.

In addition, she asked if designated food delivery pick-up points at loading and unloading bays for registered food delivery riders can be provided as well.

These suggestions have been raised by several comments made by the public in response to a recent Facebook post made by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), where motorcyclists and food delivery personnel were caught and issued fines for parking on the pedestrian path.

MND to monitor situation on the ground and review grace period as necessary

In response to Soh, MND replied that the proportion of people using the car parks for less than 20 minutes has largely reverted to pre-Circuit Breaker levels, based on their monitoring of HDB and URA car park usage.

Therefore, the 10-minute grace period that HDB and URA car parks offer is generally sufficient for motorists to conduct pick-up or drop-off activities.

As the demand for HDB and URA car parks is high, the grace period has to be kept short to ensure a quick turnover of vehicles, the written reply added.

This is to prevent congestion in the car park, to allow more motorists to use the car park, and to safeguard the interests of residents who drive or have season parking.

Previously, the grace period for delivery persons was increased to 20 minutes during the Circuit Breaker period to cater to higher demand for delivery services.

MND added that delivery riders can use loading and unloading bays provided at HDB blocks for food delivery and pick-up.

The ministry said it will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and will review grace period as necessary:

Nonetheless, we will continue to monitor the situation on the ground, understand the needs of different groups of car park users including delivery drivers and riders, and review the grace period as necessary.

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Top image via CNA video screenshot and LTA/Facebook.