Oral Reply by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Lam Pin Min to Parliamentary Question on Personal Mobility Device-sharing services

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     why has the Government decided to allow applications for licensed public personal mobility device (PMD)-sharing services from January 2019; and

b.     whether the Government will consider delaying the introduction of such commercial shared public PMD services until the riding culture for PMDs has improved and incidences of unsafe and inconsiderate usage have subsided.

Reply by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Lam Pin Min:

1.     Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) provide convenient transport options for the first and last mile connectivity. PMD-sharing services will allow more Singaporeans to use PMDs, as they will not need to own or carry them around.  However, it is important that operators provide such services without causing public disamenities. 

2.     Drawing on the lessons from regulating the bicycle-sharing industry, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is taking a cautious approach to regulating the nascent PMD-sharing industry.  Key issues being studied include fire risks and charging issues, as well as the need for third-party liability insurance. When licence applications commence next year, operators will be allowed to apply for sandbox licences for small-scale operations, with limited fleet sizes. This will limit the impact of their operations and allow LTA to assess the operators’ operations and ability to comply with regulatory requirements, before LTA considers granting any full licences for large-scale operations. 

3.     The safe use of PMDs is a shared responsibility between users, operators and the community. LTA is strengthening public education and enforcement for all PMD users. LTA will also be introducing an e-scooter registration regime from January 2019 onwards. Under this regime, all e-scooters, regardless of whether they are owned by private individuals or PMD-sharing operators, will have identification stickers prominently pasted on them. This will facilitate enforcement and deter reckless riding. To ensure a smooth transition, LTA will engage the user community and will give a transition period for users to comply.