Locking horns over orderly parking of dockless bikes
Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY
In response to the report, “Five police reports lodged over bicycle abuse this year: oBike” (Nov 22), Facebook users debated on whether it is the responsibility of a bike-sharing operator to penalise errant users who park indiscriminately, or the government authorities, or that the cyclists themselves should be more considerate.
- Not enough rubbish bins doesn’t mean people should be littering. Not enough parking lots doesn’t mean everyone can park their vehicles any way they want.... There are bicycle parking spots around, near bus stops and void decks. It has been increased over the past few years but they are not enough... There are guidelines given in the bike-rental app for users to follow. Really no excuses for users to park irresponsibly. Operator can’t take the majority of the fault here... Operators’ main target is to make money, and they have limited resources to create parking spaces for bikes... On the other hand, perhaps the spaces were enough but more and more people buy their own bicycles and park at the allocated spaces that were given to the shared bikes. JOE BENNY TAY
- It’s both the perpetrators’ fault and (oBike’s) fault... If these companies did not exist, then there would not be people dumping bicycles... If our children trip and fall because of all these bikes lying around, whose fault would it be? CAYDEN CHANG
- There are no laws for how these bikes should be parked. You find them in parks, on footpaths, at void decks, in open field, almost everywhere. Frankly, we should ban them. CHRISTOPHER LEOW-RYO
- Dockless bike scheme is really good idea. My view is that the benefits outweigh the negative; we should embrace them. The fine for those who park irresponsibly must be large enough as deterrent. ONG MICHAEL
- I was not a bike user before. But I find this scheme encourages me to ride instead of using car for short distances. These abuses and indiscriminate parking are, however, very annoying to say the least. VINCENT KOH
- Bike-sharing companies play a part, too. They should penalise those users who do not park their bicycles properly after use. (These bicycles are) being parked inappropriately along walkways and some... block my way and I have to move the bicycle to one side so that others can walk. Thought the companies employ GPS to detect their bicycles’ whereabouts islandwide. How can they not know if the bicycles are not being parked properly by cyclists after use? Every now and then, I have to send photos through OneService to get them to collect the bicycles. MCGYVER LOH
- (Co-founder of oBike) complains about vandalism but doesn’t care about users not parking at designated spots. There is an app that allows public to complain and submit photos, but nothing is done about it. Bicycles still there after two days. So I’d say the bikes deserve to be damaged if they don’t do more to regulate users. DES SOO
- You don’t damage things purposefully. If you are brought up with manners and right attitude, you take care of the things you use. Bicycle users lack civic mindedness. Failure of the moral education system in our schools... NUS, NTU, SMU and SUSS anthropologists should study this new breed of bicycle users and their behaviour and habits. JON TERRY
- We are a developed nation, a thinking economy “supposedly” capable of making better decisions in this new technologically advanced world. We are supposed to use our own initiative wisely and park the bikes in appropriate locations rather than leave them at inconvenient areas, and we should not be vandalising them... That is possible in a progressive, forward-thinking society. ARIVA ZHAGI
- The companies just flooded us with thousands of bicycles without first solving their parking issues and it has become an eyesore wherever we go... There is even one bicycle kept at the lift landing on the 24th storey of a housing block for personal usage! SIM DAVID
- How do the companies ensure their bikes are parked properly without obstruction to the general public? And how to ensure public safety when the bike users are cycling at threatening speeds on pedestrian walkways? The bikes belong to the operators and the users can claim no responsibility. CHIN HUA YAK
- Only five reports lodged? I am sure there’re more, as the problem seems prevalent in Joo Chiat/Geylang areas. PAUL MCGHEE
- Failure in the implementation and push for car-lite nation. Pushing road congestion to congestion on footpaths. LEE CK
- The company failed to provide the infrastructure for the parking of the bicycles, and should be penalised when their bicycles obstruct public footpaths. ANGELINE LEE
- Bikes not parked within the marked yellow boxes should be collected by LTA and disposed. MIKE LO
- Can members of the public make police reports against the company for its bikes being parked indiscriminately and causing a hazard to wheelchair users? KEN LIM
*Comments were first posted on TODAY’s Facebook page and are edited for language and clarity.
