Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan has stated in Parliament that footpaths in Singapore is wide enough to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclist at the same time.
Mr Khaw was responding to questions filed by NCMP Dennis Tan Lip Fong who asked the Minister for Transport given that bicycles and personal mobility devices (PMDs) will share the use of footpaths together with pedestrians what are the criteria used to determine whether an existing footpath will be widened, what is the recommended minimum width for footpaths to ensure safe shared usage between cyclists and pedestrians, and whether Ministry will conduct an islandwide review to ensure that existing footpaths which are often used by cyclists and PMD users are widened in accordance with this minimum width.
Mr Khaw said that today, most of the country’s footpaths are at least 1.5 metres wide. Footpaths near town centres and MRT stations are generally wider, between 2.4 metres and 3.6 metres, to accommodate more pedestrians and cyclists.
He noted that it is not always possible to widen footpaths, due to site constraints like existing trees and utilities.
He said that LTA also builds dedicated cycling lanes, which are generally 2 metres wide. More of such lanes will be built as part of our plans to have a cycling path network in every HDB town by 2030.
However, he generally did not answer the questions filed by Mr Dennis.
The questions were raised due to the increased number of accidents involving pedestrians and PMDs users.
In one such recent accident, a 17-years-old teenager was arrested for being involved in a hit-and -run accident with his electric scooter on 17 September 2016 at about 10 to 11 am. The accident caused a 53-year-old housewife, Madam Ang Liu Kiow, to be severely injured and had to go through a brain surgery.
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