No longer an eyesore, but are shared bikes a viable commuting option in Singapore

The Straits Times, 27 Jul 2024, No longer an eyesore, but are shared bikes a viable commuting option in Singapore?
SINGAPORE - Two or three times a week, researcher Chuck Au turns to shared bicycles to make the 10-minute journey from his flat to Bedok MRT station, or a 20-minute trip from his home to his parents' apartment in Tampines.
The 34-year-old does this when the weather holds up or when he is raring for a workout.
Buses that ply those routes tend to run at intervals of 10 to 15 minutes at off-peak hours.
A shared-bike trip from his flat to Bedok MRT station costs $1, while a bus ride costs $1.09.
If he is taking a longer journey with multiple rail and bus transfers, he would take the bus home from the MRT stop, since it will set him back by just a few cents.
Singapore's bike-sharing market comprises just two operators - Anywheel and HelloRide - after the loss-making home-grown operator SG Bike called it quits on April 30.
Of the 15 bike-sharing users The Straits Times interviewed in recent months, many ride shared bikes on their first- and last-mile journeys, such as from their homes to bus stops or MRT stations, and vice versa.
Some use them as a cheaper alternative to ride-sharing services after public transport services cease. Others use shared bikes for recreation.
For hawker Daren Oliveiro's family of four, the bikes are a platform for family bonding and exercise.
Through these rides, the 43-year-old teaches his nine- and 11-year-old sons road safety, route planning and delayed gratification when they cycle to have a nice meal at their destination.
Mr Oliveiro said his family enjoys the convenience of shared bikes since they can return the bikes at a parking spot at the foot of their Housing Board block.
How it all began
Bike sharing made its foray into Singapore in 2017, but it quickly sparked widespread public unhappiness when problems such as indiscriminate parking and bike abuse surfaced.
The two-wheelers were often found blocking pathways and corridors, with some even flung into canals or from the upper floors of HDB blocks.
To quell these problems, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced in March 2018 that it would roll out a licensing regime for bike-sharing operators with stringent rules on fleet sizes and indiscriminate parking.
This put the brakes on home-grown operator oBike's operations in June 2018, as it faced difficulties in meeting the new licensing requirements. Fellow operators GBikes and ShareBikeSG also bowed out, with the latter similarly citing difficulties in complying with the rules.
From the second half of 2018, LTA started installing unique quick-response (QR) codes at all public bicycle-parking areas to encourage users to park their shared bikes properly before ending their rides.
The authority told ST in July 2024 that these licensing regulations have reduced illegal parking, with over 90 per cent of shared-bicycle users now ending their trips at designated parking areas.
In March 2019, Chinese bike-sharing firm Mobike applied to withdraw from the Singapore market, as part of its plans to focus solely on the Chinese market.
This was followed closely by the cancellation of another Chinese operator's licence in April 2019. Ofo's licence had already been suspended by LTA earlier, when it failed to meet regulatory requirements, including that of rolling out a QR code parking system.
Bikes owned by some of these firms were left strewn all over the island for as long as several months after the companies bowed out.
In November 2019, local operator SG Bike took over Mobike's licence to operate 25,000 shared bikes, though its fleet shrank gradually over the years to 1,500 bikes as at July 2023.
SG Bike bit the dust at the end of April as it could no longer continue providing its users with the "quality experience" it had intended.
Today, Anywheel is the larger of the two remaining operators. Starting with 1,000 bikes on a "sandbox" licence in 2018, it was given the go-ahead in May to increase its fleet from 30,000 to 35,000 bikes.
The Alibaba-backed HelloRide expanded its fleet here from 1,000 on a "sandbox" licence in July 2022 to 10,000 bikes a year later.
Users can access the shared bikes by signing up for an account to unlock available bicycles and pay for their rides according to duration, before ending the trip at parking spots.
As at July 1, no new players have submitted applications to enter Singapore's bike-sharing market, said LTA.
There are now more than 262,000 bicycle parking spaces across the island.
'Sunrise industry'
The operators are bullish about the bike-sharing space and its role in Singapore's transport scene.
Describing bike sharing as a "sunrise industry", Mr Htay Aung, chief executive of Anywheel, told ST that the company has been operationally profitable from 2023.
He noted, though, that the firm's recent expenses may exceed its net earnings because of the upcoming launch of its new bikes.
Anywheel's fifth-generation bikes will be fitted with upgraded parts, including a quick-release seat adjustment mechanism and an app-controlled hub lock, which automates the locking process.
Five thousand bikes will be rolled out progressively from September till the end of 2024.
After the takeover of SG Bike's users from end-April, Mr Htay Aung said the number of registered users in Anywheel's database climbed from one million to two million. Citing commercial sensitivities, he declined to specify the number of active users.
He said about 65 per cent of Anywheel's trips take place between public transport nodes - MRT stations or bus stops - and residential areas.
On average, an Anywheel ride spans less than 2km and lasts 12 minutes. In comparison, in 2020, each trip covered an average of 6km and lasted 40 to 50 minutes.
Mr Htay Aung chalked this up to a shift in deployment locations for its bikes - from tourist attractions such as Marina Bay Sands to heartland areas - and greater flexibility in dispatching them to other areas due to its bigger fleet.
He noted that this change offered more residents in the heartland an option to traverse the first and last mile on shared bikes.
Previously, Anywheel's bikes were used mostly for leisure rides in parks or non-residential areas, resulting in longer trips.
Ninety-five per cent of Anywheel's users are below 44 years old, and 75 per cent of them are aged 34 and younger. He ascribed this to their tech-savviness and ability to adapt to app features, as well as stronger interest in adopting eco-friendly lifestyles.
Asked about potential changes in Anywheel's strategy after SG Bike's exit, Mr Htay Aung said: "Until the end of 2025, we do not want to increase prices."
On July 10, Anywheel announced a tie-up with public transport operator SBS Transit, allowing people to reserve its bikes at or near bus stops up to 30 minutes ahead on SBS Transit's mobile app.
The bikes may be used for first- and last-mile trips.
Ms Vicky Xie, marketing director of HelloRide, told ST the Chinese firm will continue prioritising user experience. For the moment, there are no plans to adjust the prices of its services.
But the firm intends to increase its fleet to meet a rise in demand, though she declined to give more details about the fleet expansion plans and when this might happen.
She said HelloRide's daily usage rates have been increasing every month but did not provide figures, citing business sensitivities. Ms Xie also did not disclose HelloRide's user demographics.
When asked about the sector's viability, Ms Xie said the value of a bike-sharing service is tied to its ability to make profits and its potential to supplement a city's transport infrastructure.
In Singapore, some hot spots for HelloRide users are those near transport nodes, within the Central Business District, and residential town centres, she said.
LTA said bike-sharing services provide the public with a convenient transport mode for first- and last-mile journeys, and support Singapore's car-lite drive.
At present, the country has 525km of cycling paths, and this will more than double to about 1,300km by 2030.
Convenient but some issues remain
While some users find shared bikes convenient, the two-wheelers are not without problems.
For Ms Caitlin Loh, 24, HelloRide bikes have become a late-night alternative to ride-hailing services.
When the account coordinator heads home at 2am after a night out, she prefers to cycle around 7km from the City Hall area to her home in Newton. The alternative is a $40 private-hire car ride.
The journey on two wheels takes her 40 minutes, compared with 15 minutes by car.
Long-time bike-sharing user and musician Afiq Syazani, 36, noted that shared bikes these days are of better quality, and he rarely sees damaged bicycles, compared with the earlier days of bike sharing.
He believed it was beneficial for Anywheel to take over SG Bike's users as this would result in greater movement of bikes within and between towns, and a better spread of the bicycles islandwide.
Still, issues remain. He sometimes has to walk three to four blocks, or 15 minutes, before he finds an available bike.
Adding that some places, such as Changi Beach Park and Yishun Dam, do not have many QR code parking areas, Mr Afiq said this highlights the connectivity gaps in the bike-sharing system.
He also suggested that a bigger range of shared-bike models be made available, such as bikes with more gears for easier rides up hilly terrain.
Housewife Norzamaria Zainal has come across many bikes in poor condition, with broken parts such as damaged brakes and misaligned wheels.
The 45-year-old has wet wipes at the ready to clean the bikes, as she has noticed many with rubbish in their baskets and mud stains on their handlebars.
Yet, she still enjoys riding shared bikes as it is an efficient way to get from her children's school in Ang Mo Kio to her Bishan home. "I prefer the freedom of riding a bike to my destination to standing in a packed bus."
Beating the bike-sharing inertia
Ultimately, the viability of bike sharing is contingent on user behaviour and its wider significance to commuters, business and transport experts told ST.
Transport consultant Tham Chen Munn reckons the bike-sharing industry is not financially viable because shared bikes are still not treated as an alternative transport mode to buses and the MRT by most commuters.
To ensure bike sharing is successfully woven into the public transport landscape, Mr Tham proposed a unified payment system offering a seamless experience for passengers.
This way, a shared-bike journey is seen as a subsidised bike transfer and becomes part of a continuous public transport journey.
Asked about the suggestion, LTA said there are no plans to integrate bike sharing into the public transport system and its fare-charging framework.
"Nevertheless, LTA will continue to monitor developments in the bicycle-sharing landscape, and support bicycle sharing by providing parking near our bus stops and MRT stations, where space permits," said the LTA spokesperson.
Dr Samuel Chng from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) noted the lack of a strong cycling culture here, which contributes to lacklustre demand for bike sharing.
The head of the Urban Psychology Lab at SUTD's Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities added that the lack of a strong cycling and bike-sharing culture could also be due to Singapore being a victim of its own success. That is because its "very extensive, affordable and convenient" public transport system has become a preferred mode of getting around.
To raise bike-sharing demand, Dr Chng suggested that cycling be reframed as an active lifestyle choice that brings health benefits, instead of just as a utilitarian means of transport.
This would entail teaching the young to cycle on roads - instead of just recreationally at parks - and about safe cycling habits.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, head of the urban transportation programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said bike sharing has faced difficulties being financially viable here and globally.
He noted that the market naturally suffers from overcapacity as operators choose to serve the same few hot spots.
SG Bike's exit may, however, slightly improve the economics for the two remaining operators.
In his view, the optimal operating model could be a monopoly that guarantees wider bike-sharing coverage in multiple areas, though this is possible only if prices are regulated and service quality is ensured.
This is because private firms, which prioritise commercial viability, may not deploy bikes in more remote areas, although these places require even better connectivity.
Conversely, if users want to enjoy the lowest possible rates for bike-sharing services, the system would need to be run completely by private operators, he said. However, only high-traffic areas would be served as a result.
He added that many key areas, such as the Downtown Core, spanning places such as Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar, have poor bike connectivity owing to the lack of bike lanes and high pedestrian and road traffic. This makes cycling and bike sharing challenging for novice riders.
Shared electric bikes?
Some cities around the world, such as Brisbane, Australia, are making the switch to shared electric bicycles and scooters, although there are no shared e-bikes in Singapore.
Asked why the addition of e-bikes has not been considered, Ms Xie said HelloRide has not applied for a licence to operate e-bikes here, and the company's focus is on service quality for its traditional bikes.
Mr Htay Aung of Anywheel said there are no plans to introduce e-bikes to Anywheel's fleet as the firm is focusing on improving its traditional bikes and its app's features to support the recent surge in users after the takeover of SG Bike's users.
He added: "We don't want to be greedy as our principle is sustainable growth, so we will continue focusing on traditional bikes."
Prof Theseira said the addition of e-bikes will not make sense for the occasional user, unless there are dedicated cycling paths that allow cyclists to ride quickly without coming into contact with pedestrians and vehicles.
This is because e-bikes can get inexperienced cyclists into trouble due to their faster acceleration abilities and speeds, he added. The higher costs of deploying e-bikes would also mean that "really robust demand" is needed "for the economics to make sense", he added.
While there is potential for e-bikes to take off here, Dr Chng noted that the main challenge is to convince people to cycle - be it a traditional bike or an e-bike.
"All in all, the greatest challenge lies in getting users to change their mindsets - whether they accept cycling in their everyday lives - as all the options can be there.
"But do people want to adopt cycling as a way of life?"