Singeo: Singapore Bike Shops

Something nice to have in your GPRS handphone when you're in a fix: Singapore Bicycle Shops Map.

If you miss a known shop, please let SinGeo know in the comments.

Cycling the Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network

The Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network is a new and rare cycling refuge has been well used by regular cyclists, particularly the stretch along the coast between Changi and ECP.

Read what they say:

• "The Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network: First Taste," by pstibb. One Less Car, 07 Feb 2008. With a qualifier, "I Should Say," by pstibb. One Less Car, 10 Feb 2008.
• "Geylang Boys talk about the ECPCN."Compilation of links of posts by ky of Geylang Boys. Jan - Apr 2008.
• "S'pore on the cheap," by Don Ross. Bangkok Post, 24 Jan 2008.
• "Eastern Park Connector Network night ride," by Lee Kin Mun. mrbrown.com, 18 Jan 2008. Flickr album.
• "First ride of 2008: Coastal Park Connector," by Lee Kin Mun. mrbrown.com, 03 Jan 2008. Flickr album.
• Zendogs, 15 Dec 2007 ride - [flickr photos]
• "Cycling today," by N. Sivasothi. Otterman speaks, 15 Dec 2007.
• "Zendogs ride again," by Adrian Loo. Lekowala, 15 Dec 2007.

Chu Wa on "How to bring a folding bike onto MRT?"

It's time to revisit Chu Wa's post "How to bring a folding bike onto MRT?" JZ88 folding bike blog, 22 Sep 2007.

It includes this cute video:

He must provide updates about getting up a bus soon!

Six month trial: foldable bicycles on BUSES and the MRT

Bicycles on the MRT (Today, 26 Jan 2008

In March, foldable bicycles will be allowed on board trains and buses during off-peak periods under a six-month trial. There will also be more and better bike parking, and cyclists will be able to access public transport via park connectors.

Chu Wa has been cycling to work for ages (read his well commented blog post here) and has always brought his foldable bike up the MRT as suggested by their CEO years ago. The bus bit though, is entirely new and pleasant news.

Let's hope it will be a positive six months.

Excerpt from the "Speech by Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport, at the visit to Kim Chuan Depot, 25 January 2008, 9.00am." Singapore Government Media Release.

Facilitating Cyclists

44 Cyclists are another group that we will facilitate. There is a growing interest in cycling, with more people cycling for recreation, or to get around the neighbourhood.

45 We invited some of them to our land transport review focus group discussions to see how we could better cater to their needs. Some cyclists asked for more bicycle stands around our bus and MRT stations. Others made the point that some foldable bicycles were not much bigger than prams, so why not allow them onboard our trains and buses?

46 Responding to this, LTA together with the public transport operators will launch a six-month trial from March 2008 to allow cyclists to carry their foldable bicycles on board trains and buses. LTA will also work with NParks and other agencies to leverage on the park connectors to enable cyclists to get to public transport interchanges more easily. Bicycle parking facilities at the MRT stations and bus interchanges in housing estates will be improved.

47 The cyclists also shared their ‘war stories’ and asked us to help improve safety on our roads. Following a pilot in Changi, LTA will put up signs to alert motorists to the presence of cyclists along frequently used cycling routes such as those in West Coast and Thomson from March 08. LTA and the Traffic Police have also started a trial to allow cycling on pedestrian footways in Tampines.

48 But at the end of the day, it is also an issue of mutual accommodation – for the motorists to look out for cyclists on the road; and for cyclists to have a care for pedestrians.

SinGeo posts the Google Map version of the Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network

See "42km of Off-Road Cycling in Singapore." SinGeo, 16 Jan 2008.

More reasons to keep your eyes on the road

Since 2005 many of us have kept our eyes peeled even on our familiar routes. The price of steel shot up due to the construction boom in China and this created a lucrative scrap steel market. I first heard about this from a Malaysian friend and by August 2005 the phenomenon was reported from our shores.

This demand took care of my old steel bike, the "Champion Du Monde" which had been left hanging around campus in want of an owner.

I have also seen the the occasional gap and had a couple of near shaves. Enough to keep me alert. Well here is another reminder not to let our guard down just yet.

"Scrap metal seller arrested after suspicious transaction," by Chio Su-Mei. Channel NewsAsia, 10 Jan 2008.

SINGAPORE: Police arrested a scrap metal seller on Wednesday after he made a transaction that raised eyebrows.

The 39-year-old man had sold 1,050 kilograms of loose metals, drain gratings and reinforced metal bars to a dealer at Defu Industrial Estate on 9 January.

Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division were alerted to this during a routine check on second-hand goods dealers.

Through records maintained by the dealer, police were able to identify and ambush the suspect at a metal recycling shop in Woodlands Industrial Park.

He was found with six bars of reinforced metal weighing a total of 700kg.

The suspect will be charged in court on 11 January with "fraudulent possession of property" under Chapter 184 for Fraudulent Possession of Property, in Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Under the Second-hand Goods Dealer Act 2007, which came into effect on 1 December 2007, second-hand goods dealers trading in items listed in the Schedule of the Act, such as copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass, or a composite of such metals, are to keep proper records on sellers of such metals.

Dealers of such metals are also required to make payment to sellers of scrap metals using only crossed cheques. - CNA/vm

Official launch of the Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network

In 2002, the Ministry of National Development's Parks and Waterbodies Concept Plan, prepared in preparation for the Master Plan 2003, stated:

"Today, we have 40 km of park connectors. The challenge is to build 3 times more green connectors or another 120 km to complete an island-wide network by the year 2015."

The 42km Eastern Park Connector Network was just officially launched after the completion of the 7.9km stretch between Changi Beach Park and East Coast Park. The Network comprises the Bedok, Changi, Coastal, Loyang, Pasir Ris, Siglap and Tampines park connectors.

"Scenic network in the east," by Lin Yanqin. Today, 8th Dec 2007. Parks linked by new 7.9km connector.

NO NEED to limit yourself to visiting just one park over the weekend - the newly-completed Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network will allow lovers of the outdoors to visit at least three.

The 42-km network, built at a cost of $22 million, links up the popular East Coast Park, Changi Beach Park and Pasir Ris Park, and other parks in the east, such as Bedok Reservoir Park.

Officially launched by the Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan, the network is the first to be completed out of the planned total of seven throughout the island.

Eventually, major recreational spaces and housing estates will be connected.

The link also provides shortcuts to housing estates, Mass Rapid Transit stations and schools.

The latest stretch of the eastern network to be completed - a scenic 7.9-km route that links Changi Beach Park to East Coast Park - brings the total length of completed park connectors to 100km.


NParks Eastern Coastal Network Connector

A western park network is in the works. And upcoming inter-park connectors include the Central Catchment Area, Punggol Park and Sungei Pangsua in the west.

Said Mr Mah: "The park connector network is an important part of our plans to transform Singapore into a 'City in a Garden' ... with green lungs set among buildings and built-up facilities.

With the completion of the Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network, Singaporeans can use it to get from their homes to the parks."

For instance, Tampines residents can jog, walk or cycle their way to the popular Pasir Ris Park through the connector.

Taking a spin through the new park connector was a team of 12 cyclists from the Ministry of National Development, who were symbolically flagged off for their 25-day cycling expedition in New Zealand to raise at least $100,000 for charity.

From the Channel NewsAsia report:

By 2015, NParks hopes to construct 200km of park connectors - to date, half of that has been built. More will be added beyond 2015. NParks' eventual goal is to create a connector network linking up the whole of Singapore.

NParks said it has taken special care to preserve the natural environment. Kalthom Abdul Latiff, Assistant Director, Park Connectors and Special Projects, NParks, said, "We try to preserve the rustic nature as much as possible. We do not want to change the ambience, (we want to) keep it rustic, so that people will get a different experience."

Links:

• "Scenic network in the east," by Lin Yanqin. Today, 08 Dec 2007.
• "42km Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network launched," by Hoe Yeen Nie. Channel NewsAsia, 08 Dec 2007.
• "Linking parks to bring them closer to you," Parks and Waterbodies Concept Plan 2002, Urban Redevelopment Authority webpage, Ministry of National Development.
• "Park Connectors." National Parks Board webpage, Ministry of National Development.
• NParks Eastern Coastal Network Connector, National Parks Board webpage, Ministry of National Development.
• "A greenway network for Singapore," by Tan Wee Kiat, 30 April 2006. Landscape and Urban Planning, 76(1-4): 45-66.
  
  

See other park connector posts in this blog.