Monday, April 26, 2010

Tampines' derelict bicycle removal programme (Today Online)

"Cycling Town's scourge." Today Online, 26 Apr 2010.

SINGAPORE - Ever since it began its journey to become Singapore's first official "cycling town", pedestrian safety has not been the only issue Tampines has needed to tackle; abandoned bicycles have been another. Now, the town council has found a way to fix the problem, through a derelict bicycle removal programme.

From about 1,560 derelict bicycles found during a survey in July and August of 2008, the number fell by more than 70 per cent to 432 in January. The improvement came after a quarterly removal exercise, involving town council staff and residents' committee members, was mooted.

Bicycles found in bad condition, such as those with rusty or missing parts, are tagged with a removal notice and taken away when the notice expires or during the quarterly exercise.

In the first exercise, conducted on Jan 11 last year, staff and volunteers combed 68 blocks in Tampines. A total of 189 derelict bicycles were later removed. To date, a total of 454 blocks have been covered and a total of 1,063 bicycles removed.

The town council is continuing with the initiative as well as its outreach to residents through newsletters, brochures and banners on proper parking and care of bicycles.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How I wish this is a nation wide effort. My place not too bad but still about half the bicycle lots were occupied by long time not in use bicycles.

Starringme said...

What I want to know is where these bicycles go?