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Ng Jun Sen | The New Paper | Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014
SINGAPORE - While others rely on personal or public transport, he whizzes around on his electric kick scooter.
Travelling around five kilometres over park connectors and pavements is how designer Benjy Choo, 39, goes to work each day.
Said Mr Choo: "On days that my wife uses the car, I ride the e-scooter. Public transport doesn't take me right to the doorstep of my office and bicycles are too cumbersome to carry to a meeting and the weather is too hot to ride one."
The only problem is, it is illegal to ride e-scooters on our roads and Mr Choo could be jailed or fined for it.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), Traffic Police and the National Parks Board said they are not allowed or not advised to be on public roads, pavements and park connectors.
Users know it is illegal to ride them on public roads, but few know that they are not allowed in parks and on pavements too.
Some riders told The New Paper that because they cannot afford a car and the MRT trains and public buses are too crowded, these scooters are the best solution to their transport woes.
Mr Choo, for example, rides it often to work, to meet clients or to run errands for his family.
He said: "I know there are no regulations yet. No one knows what the authorities might decide, but if it is banned, it would be such a waste. It reduces the need for cars and one can easily take it onto buses and trains.
"It is the perfect solution for Singapore."
Soaring popularity
Distributors and retailers said sales figures have rocketed since their introduction late last year.
One of the largest e-scooter distributors here, Falcon Portable Electric Vehicles, said each sale comes attached with a warning.
Its director, Mr Warren Chew, said: "I tell each customer that, technically, what they are getting is not legal to be used on almost any road here."
Mr Chew said the scooters are so popular that the company sold more units in a month than it had forecasted for a year.
He classes the scooters as portable electric vehicles (PEV), alongside self-balancing unicycles and vehicles like the Segway.
He believes there are 2,000 to 3,000 PEV users on the road today, based on his sales figures. Exact figures are not known as there is no industry association for these vehicles and some buyers get their scooters from online shops.
Some of these models have more powerful engines than those sold by Falcon and have higher top speeds.
Said Mr Chew: "That could become a safety and reliability problem.
"That is why we are very much in favour of some regulation and I expect it to come within a year."
E-scooters are not a new, but advances in battery technology have made them smaller and lighter, said another distributor of an e-scooter.
That is why they have become so popular, said the director of Zoom Urban Transport, Mr James Lai, 24.
His company, which started in April, sells between 50 and 100 e-scooters every month.
"Most of our customers are the young corporate type," he said, adding that some of his clients are businesses that want to use them for their factories, warehouses or offices.
"Because e-scooters are so portable, we know of many drivers who keep them in their car boot.
"They park somewhere cheaper and 'scoot' to their destination."
This recent trend has also created several enthusiast communities here.
Said the founder of Facebook group Big Wheel Scooters Singapore, Mr Swen Einhaus: "I started the group last November, thinking there was just a small niche community.
"I did not expect the hype to build up so quickly."
His group has more than 2,500 users and it organises meet-ups at least once a month.
About 40 to 50 e-scooter users attend each time, he said.
- See more at: http://transport.asiaone.com/news/general/story/oh-scoot-its-banned#sthash.hTsnPCW2.dpuf
SINGAPORE - While others rely on personal or public transport, he whizzes around on his electric kick scooter.
Travelling around five kilometres over park connectors and pavements is how designer Benjy Choo, 39, goes to work each day.
Said Mr Choo: "On days that my wife uses the car, I ride the e-scooter. Public transport doesn't take me right to the doorstep of my office and bicycles are too cumbersome to carry to a meeting and the weather is too hot to ride one."
The only problem is, it is illegal to ride e-scooters on our roads and Mr Choo could be jailed or fined for it.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), Traffic Police and the National Parks Board said they are not allowed or not advised to be on public roads, pavements and park connectors.
Users know it is illegal to ride them on public roads, but few know that they are not allowed in parks and on pavements too.
Some riders told The New Paper that because they cannot afford a car and the MRT trains and public buses are too crowded, these scooters are the best solution to their transport woes.
Mr Choo, for example, rides it often to work, to meet clients or to run errands for his family.
He said: "I know there are no regulations yet. No one knows what the authorities might decide, but if it is banned, it would be such a waste. It reduces the need for cars and one can easily take it onto buses and trains.
"It is the perfect solution for Singapore."
Soaring popularity
Distributors and retailers said sales figures have rocketed since their introduction late last year.
One of the largest e-scooter distributors here, Falcon Portable Electric Vehicles, said each sale comes attached with a warning.
Its director, Mr Warren Chew, said: "I tell each customer that, technically, what they are getting is not legal to be used on almost any road here."
Mr Chew said the scooters are so popular that the company sold more units in a month than it had forecasted for a year.
He classes the scooters as portable electric vehicles (PEV), alongside self-balancing unicycles and vehicles like the Segway.
He believes there are 2,000 to 3,000 PEV users on the road today, based on his sales figures. Exact figures are not known as there is no industry association for these vehicles and some buyers get their scooters from online shops.
Some of these models have more powerful engines than those sold by Falcon and have higher top speeds.
Said Mr Chew: "That could become a safety and reliability problem.
"That is why we are very much in favour of some regulation and I expect it to come within a year."
E-scooters are not a new, but advances in battery technology have made them smaller and lighter, said another distributor of an e-scooter.
That is why they have become so popular, said the director of Zoom Urban Transport, Mr James Lai, 24.
His company, which started in April, sells between 50 and 100 e-scooters every month.
"Most of our customers are the young corporate type," he said, adding that some of his clients are businesses that want to use them for their factories, warehouses or offices.
"Because e-scooters are so portable, we know of many drivers who keep them in their car boot.
"They park somewhere cheaper and 'scoot' to their destination."
This recent trend has also created several enthusiast communities here.
Said the founder of Facebook group Big Wheel Scooters Singapore, Mr Swen Einhaus: "I started the group last November, thinking there was just a small niche community.
"I did not expect the hype to build up so quickly."
His group has more than 2,500 users and it organises meet-ups at least once a month.
About 40 to 50 e-scooter users attend each time, he said.
- See more at: http://transport.asiaone.com/news/general/story/oh-scoot-its-banned#sthash.hTsnPCW2.dpuf
