LTA ponders bike-sharing programme

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/lta-ponders-bike-sharing-programme?singlepage=true

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is calling for ideas on how to pilot a bicycle-sharing scheme less than 18 months from now in the city centre, Jurong Lake District and possibly Tampines, Pasir Ris and Sembawang.

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The authority hopes to encourage the use of bicycles to complement the public transport system. Such schemes can be found in cities such as New York City, London and Taipei.

Request for Information (RFI) documents calling for proposals released yesterday showed that the scheme for Singapore should feature docking stations spaced no more than 300m apart, located near public transport nodes and amenities such as neighbourhood centres and schools.

Typical users envisioned by the LTA include HDB dwellers commuting within the town, students travelling to school, workers travelling to and from the office and tourists. The system must also allow users to rent and return bikes at the same or different stations.

Those interested in submitting a proposal must also put forth a viable business model, such as how to fund the system, whether it will require sponsorship and how much to charge users. The LTA said it expects to conclude the RFI by the fourth quarter of this year. A tender will then be called to launch the pilot by the end of next year.

New York City launched a bike-sharing scheme — Citi Bike — in May last year, with Citibank as the sponsor. Run by NYC Bike Share, the scheme offers 330 stations and more than 4,000 bikes. Annual memberships cost US$95 (S$119), while 24-hour passes are US$9.95 and seven-day passes are US$25. Annual membership users can make trips up to 45 minutes before extra charges kick in. For 24-hour and seven-day pass users, they can make trips of 30 minutes before incurring charges.

In Taipei, the government’s Youbike bicycle-sharing system allows people to pay using its EasyCard — similar to Singapore’s EZ-link card — or credit card. The first 30 minutes are free and every 30 minutes thereafter is NT$10 (S$0.40).