TWO public notices threatening a fine of $1,000 for parking bicycles outside a gate of Punggol MRT station have shooed away cyclists but some people wonder why the fine has to be set so high.
The two notices from SBS Transit were displayed on railings outside the station’s gate located closest to Waterway Point shopping mall, reported Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily yesterday.
“A bicycle costs only about $200 and so $50 should be good enough for a fine,” a national serviceman told Shin Min at the station. He added: “$1,000 could get a person a few bicycles.”
Calling the fine “excessive”, a cyclist who did not want to be named said it was “unjust” as there were not enough parking spaces around the station to accommodate the high number of bicycles.
“There are many cyclists in this area. Often, one has to simply take up any space available,” he pointed out.
But a 40-year-old man, who wants to be known only as Mr Tan, believes a fine of $1,000 would effectively deter cyclists from obstructing the gate.
“Two to three weeks after the notices appeared, cyclists have been less unruly and the situation has improved,” he noted.
Tammy Tan, SBS Transit’s senior vice-president for corporate communications, told Shin Min that the Rapid Transit System Act stipulates that all bicycles must be parked in designated spaces.
Anyone found to have removed or destroyed a fine ticket issued to an illegally parked bicycle will be liable for a fine of $1,000, she said.
myp@sph.com.sg
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