Cycling – a green, healthy solution to Singapore's traffic woes

Letter from Patricia Chee, Today Online 19 Mar 08;

I refer to "The politics of sidewalks" (March 15-16). There seems to be growing demand for bicycle lanes in Singapore, yet urban planners do not seem to be heeding these calls.

Cycling offers several benefits. It can help ease our transportation woes and help reduce global warming and improve our health.

It will also help us save money by countering the effects of rising oil prices.

Kudos to Members of Parliament Teo Ser Luck and Irene Ng for raising this issue recently in Parliament.

I think our urban planners should walk around more often. They could, for example, go to Bedok MRT station, and see for themselves, the large numbers of bicycles chained to any available guard rail and tree.

They should also ride a bicycle along the East Coast Park and feel the wind blowing in their faces. This is far more enjoyable than being squeezed with other commuters in air-conditioned "comfort".

Some major cities are already pushing bicycles as an alternative means of transport.

Paris, Barcelona, Geneva, Stockholm, Oslo and Vienna offer bicycles for rent as they try to reduce the number of cars in big cities, improve air quality and provide a fun alternative to trains.

In Paris and Barcelona thousands have bought low-cost annual passes to rent bicycles from hundreds of stations located throughout the cities.

Organisers of the 2012 London Olympics are considering a ban on the use of cars at all the Games' major venues, meaning spectators would have to walk, cycle or use public transport.

Singapore should consider these creative approaches to solving traffic congestion instead of tweaking ERPs and COEs.

We can't share the pavement
Today Online 19 Mar 08;

Letter from Jason Chiam Chiah Sern, Redhill
Letter from K W Wong, Tampines
Letter from EDMOND NG CHOON CHAI, Sembawang
Letter from LAI YEW CHAN, Tampines
Letter from Yeow Mei Sin, Upper Bukit Timah

No matter what rules are introduced, the attitudes of pedestrians and cyclists will determine if they can share Singapore's pavements.

How many times have pedestrians been guilty of walking on clearly designated cycling paths along the East Coast Park when they have their own footpaths? I know I have.

I have lived in Tampines for almost 20 years and worked in Tampines Central for three years. I walk to and from my office every day.

I have often seen cyclists riding through crowded bus stops instead of cycling around them. They assume pedestrians will give way if they ring their bells. This is extremely inconsiderate and dangerous.

Cyclists also ride along the corridors or walkways of HDB blocks. I once witnessed a near-collision when a cyclist sped around a blind corner.

I regularly use the footpath from Tampines Central to Tampines Street 71. I have seen as many as four cyclists riding abreast along the footpath at high speeds, forcing pedestrians onto the grass to avoid being hit.

I have also encountered inconsiderate cyclists talking on their mobile phones while riding. Some ride in a zig-zag manner, which is especially dangerous for the elderly, children and pregnant women.

There is a neighbourhood centre in Tampines Avenue 3, which has several schools nearby. It is common to see hordes of cyclists on the pavement there.

I hope that decision-makers walk around Tampines to assess how dangerous the situation really is for pedestrians.

I have yet to see a single cyclist push their bike if the situation calls for it. They just ring their bells instead.

I concur with Ravi Veloo, that it would be almost impossible for pedestrians and cyclists to share the pavement.

A cyclist recently rode into my arm as I stretched to press the button at a traffic light. This is not my first unpleasant encounter with cyclists.

On another occasion, a cyclist knocked one of the grocery bags I was carrying out of my hand. He did not apologise or even help to pick up the bag.

Pedestrians encounter cyclists every day on the pavement. It is intimidating to be confronted by two cyclists — riding abreast on the pavement — when neither of them want to give way.

I have yet to see a cyclist dismount and push his bicycle along the pavement.

I feel it is unrealistic to make it legal for cyclists to use the pavement, based on the Tampines studies.

If the authorities want an accurate study of more representative situations faced by most pedestrians, I suggest the road from Sembawang MRT station to Admiralty, where the pavements are not as wide as those in Tampines.

The pilot study at Tampines has been augmented by public education. However, would this undo the deep-seated roots of inconsiderate or rash behaviour?

Cyclists on the pavement may be more careless as they are less likely to be seriously injured if they collide with pedestrians than with vehicles on the road.

My own experience as a Tampines resident bears this out. I often have to look behind me whenever I walk along the pavement, as many cyclists are unconcerned about whizzing past pedestrians without warning.

The police's assurances of taking action against reckless cyclists is cold comfort. Should pedestrians have to wait for cyclists to be reckless before they are booked?

There should have been a comprehensive law — enacted in tandem with the Tampines study — that encompasses major and minor offences when cycling on pavement.

We should not tolerate inconsiderate riding on the pavement, any more than we do not condone inconsiderate driving on the roads.

Ravi Veloo has highlighted a key issue: Why should a stretch of pavement in Tampines be used as the sample for the rest of Singapore?

If the Tampines study leads to a ruling that allows cyclists to share the pavement with pedestrians, this would create a less conducive living environment in Singapore.

Why has the study been confined to just one stretch of pavement in Tampines? Why not conduct a more in-depth survey?

As a regular user of the East Coast Park, I feel many cyclists are unsociable. Many prefer to ride on the pavement meant for pedestrians. Many of these errant cyclists ring their bells to warn pedestrians, then speed off laughing.

On several occasions, I even witnessed speeding cyclists almost knock down elderly or very young pedestrians who were in their way.

Signs on overhead bridges and underpasses stating that cycling is strictly prohibited are often defaced by vandals.

Ravi Veloo is correct in saying that our pavements are usually too narrow for cyclists and pedestrians. I often accompany my 83-year-old mother on her morning walks. She uses a walking stick and is understandably slow. I walk alongside her and hold her arm to give her confidence.

But the sight of an elderly lady holding a walking stick hardly deters cyclists from ringing their bells rudely to warn her to move aside. I have been so irritated that I have taken to yelling at these cyclists. Instead of apologising, they snigger and ride away, leaving my poor mother quite shaken.

Cyclists should be given their own road lanes to ride in. Errant cyclists should also be penalised.

Like Ravi Veloo, I am also curious why Rule 28 of the Road Traffic Rules exists but is hardly enforced.

Related articles

Is there a place for cyclists in Singapore transport system?
Li Xueying, Straits Times 7 Mar 08;

More bicycle parking facilities at MRT stations, bus interchanges
Channel NewsAsia 18 Feb 08;