There are now three bike-sharing apps in Singapore, after the official launch of Mobike yesterday.

Like ofo, another Chinese-owned bike-sharing app, and oBike, a Singapore venture, Mobike uses a dockless bike-share system and users can unlock its bicycles by scanning a QR code on it.

Users pay $1 for every 30 minutes of use, and each bicycle comes with a proprietary “smart lock” containing GPS technology, which allows the company to locate and track the position of each bicycle.

When a rider reaches his destination, he simply has to park the bike and secure the smart lock.

Questions have come up over where such bicycles can be parked, though.

The East Coast-Fengshan Town Council said that public racks around the Bedok Town Centre are not to be used for “rental business”, The Straits Times reported on Saturday.

It placed removal notices on bike-share bicycles parked at racks around the town centre and asked oBike to remove its bicycles from the racks. (See report below.)

In a bid to overcome this parking issue, Mobike said it plans to work closely with a number of partners to identify “Mobike Preferred Locations” to leave and pick up its bicycles, targeting areas of high convenience around the city and existing authorised bicycle parking zones.

A spokesman for Mobike said: “After each ride, the bikes should be left in any approved bike parking area, such as those around MRT stations and HDB void decks.”

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said such locations make sense.

He told The New Paper: “Bike parking locations should typically be at areas of activity, such as MRT stations, bus interchanges, bus stops, shopping centres and hawker centres.”

If a user cannot find a preferred location to leave his bike, Mobike’s policy states that the rider can leave the bicycle “at any public accessible location that does not obstruct the traffic flow of pedestrians or vehicles”.

Mobike said yesterday more details of its operations will be revealed in the coming days.

oBike hopes to reach compromise over parking

Mr Elgin Ee, general manager of oBike, said yesterday that they hope to reach a compromise with the East Coast-Fengshan Town Council over parking.

The town council placed removal notices on the company’s bicycles which were left in parking racks around Bedok Town Centre.

It also contacted oBike and informed the bike-sharing company to remove the bicycles as the racks are not to be used for rental services.

Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, Mr Ee said that other town councils were supportive, adding: “Our riders are residents, too.

“We understand if the town council is concerned about overcrowding, but we hope they understand that we’re serving the residents.”

He said that oBike is now exploring other areas where users can leave their bicycles.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng told TNP that it will be difficult for commercial operators if they are not allowed to use public bicycle parking racks.

He said: “I don’t think it will be a healthy development.

“Both parties should try to work out a solution and hopefully have a more open mind.

“Those bikes are being used by residents – who are using them for all sorts of purposes, such as travelling within the community.

“If the town council says no, residents will lose the opportunity to enjoy the service.”

bxliew@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 22, 2017.
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He has not seen his family for more than two years and does not even have their photographs with him.

But yesterday, Mr Khan Nasir Uddin, 44, was reunited with his family of four over a video call back in his rented room in Farrer Park.

The worker, who is from the Manikganj district in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said: “I was very happy to see my family.”

Mr Khanused to call his family using his 10-year-old 2G Nokia phone.

But he received a 3G phone at a phone distribution event organised by non-profit organisation Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) yesterday.

2G SHUTDOWN

After it was announced that the 2G networkwould shut down next month, TWC2 collected around 300 phones for foreign workers.

Mr Ethan Guo, general manager of TWC2, said: “When we heard that the 2G mobile signal was about to be shut down, our immediate concern was how the migrant workers under our care would be able to afford a new 3G phone.

“A phone isn’t a luxury for these workers. They need one to stay in touch with family back home and to be notified of appointments with the Ministry of Manpower or the hospital.”

To provide enough phones for the workers, TWC2 also used monetary donations to purchase an additional 100 phones.

When asked why he did not bring his family photos over to Singapore, Mr Khan told The New Paper that his family cried when he had to leave, and he got distracted and forgot to take the photos.

Indian national Pandian Ramadoss, 38, a site and safety supervisor, told TNP that he has not seen his family for 1½ years and is excited to use his 3G phone to video-call them.

“I used to own a 3G phone and wanted to purchase another one after it was spoilt.

“But I injured myself before I received my salary so I couldn’t afford another 3G phone.”

This article was first published on March 22, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – A 34-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a series of milk powder thefts at supermarkets islandwide, police said in a press release on Tuesday (March 21).

Police received a report on March 6, informing them that 24 tins of milk powder had been stolen from a supermarket along Turf Club Road.

Officers from Tanglin Division conducted extensive investigations which culminated in the arrest of the suspect along Sixth Avenue on March 20.

The investigations also turned up the possibility that the suspect may have been involved in previous cases of milk powder theft reported islandwide – about 200 tins of milk powder estimated to be worth more than $10,000 were seized from the suspect’s residence.

Any person found guilty of theft in dwelling may be imprisoned for up to seven years on top of paying a fine.

This article was first published on March 21, 2017.
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Cheaper rides and shorter waiting time.

This is the promise of ride-hailing platform Grab, which announced its dynamic pricing model for taxi fares yesterday.

A new option called JustGrab, which combines taxis and private hire cars on the Grab platform, will be beta-tested from today and progressively rolled out before its public launch on March 29.

Those who choose the JustGrab button on the Grab app will get either a taxi or private hire car at the same price quoted.

Current options such as GrabCar and the metered Grabtaxi will still be available, but offer different and probably higher fares than JustGrab.

Mr Melvin Vu, the head of Grabtaxi Singapore, told The New Paper yesterday that the larger pool of drivers on JustGrab will mean that its prices will not fluctuate as much.

It also expects this new option to cut waiting time for rides by up to five minutes.

Dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, adjusts fares according to demand.

Last week, the Land Transport Authority and Public Transport Council gave taxi companies the go-ahead to implement this pricing model.

As used by Grab and ride-hailing rival Uber, it is meant to encourage drivers to get out on the road when demand is high.

But when taxi companies, including ComfortDelgro which controls about 60 per cent of the taxi fleet here, announced plans to introduce dynamic pricing earlier this month, several commuters expressed fears about higher fares and the availability of taxis on the streets, especially during peak periods when some cabbies might chose to rely solely on bookings to get higher fares.

Addressing these concerns, Mr Vu said surge pricing for taxis will be introduced in a “measured and calibrated” way and stressed that commuters still have the same choices as before, such as metered fares and current options such as GrabCar, GrabHitch and GrabShare.

He said less than 1 per cent of GrabCar fares over the past year were above $60.

And based on figures in January and February, less than 1 per cent of GrabCar fares were above $50.

He said: “Because of the large supply pool for JustGrab, it will most likely be cheaper than GrabCar and commuters will not experience such huge fares.”

Dynamic taxi fares will be capped at $100.

Mr Vu also thinks only a “handful” of drivers may “hide” to get bookings during high demand, because current market conditions and heightened competition from ride-hailing companies have made it less profitable to do so.

JustGrab is an assigned system, which means passengers are matched to the nearest vehicle, he said.

“Some of our taxi drivers have told us that it might not make business sense during peak periods to cruise around, waiting for that supposedly high fare that comes their way,” he added.

Grab will take a 10 per cent cut from cabbies assigned to JustGrab passengers, while GrabTaxi cabbies will pay a flat commission of 50 cents.

Mr Vu admits some drivers may be uncomfortable with this, but they can be assured of at least 20 per cent more jobs with JustGrab.

He said: “Taxi drivers are very excited because they have been asking us why they can’t use fixed fares and take GrabCar jobs.

“So we decided to work with our taxi partners because, increasingly, we are seeing more commuters who prefer the fixed fare model.”

linheng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 22, 2017.
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Not knowing that there was a dead body on the roof of his rubbish truck, the driver continued to drive another 50m before he was alerted by an eyewitness.

A 50-year-old man had fallen from the ninth storey and landed on the truck at Block 450F, Tampines Street 42, yesterday at 10.43am.

Mr Wu, who lives on the 10th storey of the same block, said his wife was hanging out clothes to dry when she heard a bang.

She was shocked when she saw a man lying on top of a white garbage truck, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Mr Wu managed to stop the truck after chasing it to Block 450G.

“After the driver stopped, I could see a lot of blood flowing from the top of the truck, it was very startling,” he said.

“The driver’s face turned pale after realising that someone had died and kept saying that it has nothing to do with him.”

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the man was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

The New Paper understands that the dead man is Mr Toh Tian Jian.

An SCDF spokesman said it sent an ambulance, a fire engine and a support vehicle to the scene.

Police have classified the case as an unnatural death and investigations are ongoing.

This article was first published on March 22, 2017.
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