New bike sharing scheme launched in Holland-Bukit Panjang

A fourth bike sharing service has been launched here, with technology its founders hope will help solve the problem of indiscriminate parking.

SG Bike, launched yesterday in collaboration with Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, boasts the use of "geostation" technology, which requires users to park within designated zones.

Any attempt to park outside the zone, marked by yellow boxes, will result in an alarm going off.

Currently, there are 305 such zones within Holland-Bukit Panjang, where the first 300 of the fleet are placed.

The company intends to increase the number of bikes to 1,000 in the coming months.

Geostations, which use radio-frequency identification technology, will also be installed in Sembawang and Nee Soon by the end of the year, bringing the total number of areas where users can park to about 2,000.

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Mr Albert Teng, chief executive officer of SG Bike, said the use of this technology plays an important role in shaping user behaviour.

"There are too many shared bicycles parked indiscriminately, blocking pathways and public facilities," he said.

"As the next generation of bike sharing operators, we want to promote responsible use of bicycle sharing."

Using the bike costs $1 for the first 30 minutes, after which riders will be charged on a per-minute basis.

Aside from using a phone, the SG Bikes can also be unlocked via an issued card or an ez-link card.

Errant users are expected to pay a penalty of around $2 to $5.

The other bike-sharing services here do not currently have an explicit penalty fee, though errant users may face increased charges for usage of the bikes.

Indiscriminate parking of the bikes has been an issue in recent months, with many spotted in places that cause inconvenience to the public.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, chairman of Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, said the end goal of this initiative is to promote responsible cycling and parking.

"It is with this in mind that we collaborated with bike sharing operator SG Bikes."