SINGAPORE — The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) 15 town councils will ban the use of personal mobility devices (PMDs) at void decks and common corridors, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min said in Parliament on Monday (Aug 5).

As part of moves aimed at reducing the number of PMD-related accidents here, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will also launch a three-month trial of pedestrian-only zones (POZs) in selected town councils and double its enforcement team on the ground to 200 officers by the end of the year, he added.

In a ministerial statement on the issue, Dr Lam said the ban on PMDs at void decks and common corridors was decided following discussions with the 15 PAP-run town councils. 

When asked for more details about the ban, Dr Teo Ho Pin, the coordinating chairman for the PAP's town councils, said he will issue a statement on Wednesday about the use of PMDs in common spaces within public housing estates.

Meanwhile, Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, run by the Workers’ Party, is still considering whether to implement the ban in their estates, TODAY understands. 

The LTA will also be working with relevant town councils to implement a three-month trial of POZs within the town centres in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bukit Batok and Khatib, and at a neighbourhood centre in Tampines. In the designated POZs, PMD riders will be required to dismount and push their devices. 

Should these trials prove to be successful, the POZs will be implemented at other town centres islandwide, Dr Lam said.

The moves come amid growing concerns among pedestrians over the use of PMDs in Singapore and a spate of accidents that have led to serious injuries and even death. In May, TODAY reported that the PAP town councils were considering the ban, as they relook their by-laws to bring these in step with legislation that governs such equipment on public paths.

Several Members of Parliament have also expressed concerns over reckless PMD riders within residential areas. 

Dr Lam acknowledged these concerns, saying: “I have often asked myself whether we would be better off banning PMDs whenever I read of accidents involving PMDs.”

But he added that there were calls to ban bicycles from footpaths a few years ago, too, but after intensive public education efforts and infrastructural improvements, there is now greater acceptance of bicycles in Singapore.

“Similarly, a PMD is just a machine. It is the rider who decides whether it is beneficial or detrimental to our lives. I am convinced that Singaporeans can be taught to use PMDs responsibly, as they have with bicycles. I am confident that we can bring about the safe sharing of paths with PMDs”.

Dr Lam also announced various other upgrades and trials that the LTA will be rolling out in its efforts to reduce PMD accidents and make Singapore’s paths safer:

INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES

• S$50 million will be set aside to expedite improvements in hotspots where PMD accidents often occur. These improvements would include the widening of footpaths and the installation of clear warning signs and speed regulating strips on paths to slow down PMD users. 

• In Ang Mo Kio, road space will be reclaimed along four stretches — streets 22, 41, 43, and 61 — to build cycling paths where sidewalks are not wide enough. The new paths are set to be completed in the next three years. 

• The existing 440km of cycling paths in Singapore will be expanded to 750km by 2025 and the cycling network tripled by 2030. 

• In more established neighbourhoods, car lanes will be reclaimed to make way for these expanded cycling paths. In new precincts such as Kampong Bugis, Tengah and Woodlands North Coast, there were already plans from the beginning to build cycling paths on both sides of the road. 

SAFETY MARKINGS IN SCHOOL ZONES

• The LTA will also be trying out School Zone markings along footpaths outside some schools. This will include speed regulating strips, “SLOW” markings and enhanced visual cues on the ground to remind PMD users to slow down.

• These measures have already been introduced at Fern Green Primary School and will be rolled out at four other schools — Fengshan Primary School, Jiemin Primary School, Rivervale Primary School and Yishun Secondary School — by next month.

• Plans to expand the scheme to other schools are subject to whether these measures are successful at these five schools.