Jurong Lake District first of three areas to start bike-sharing system in end-2017

JURONG Lake District is expected to implement Singapore's first large-scale bicycle-sharing system by the end of next year, involving over 1,000 bicycles and 100 docking stations.

Two more districts - one around Marina Bay and the city centre, and another in Tampines and Pasir Ris - will also have their own bike-sharing systems rolled out at a later date.

Taken together, this means that there will potentially be around 2,300 bicycles and 230 docking stations in total across all three locations.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be issuing tenders on Friday to roll out these systems.

The first will be to invite potential operators to put in their bids to own, build, operate and maintain these systems. Bidders will have to suggest three scenarios when bidding, with the system in Jurong Lake District as the first to be rolled out and the other two as options to be considered depending on how the project rolls out in Jurong Lake District.

This tender will be for eight years. To be issued on Friday, it will close in two months' time. An announcement on who wins the bid is expected by the end of this year, and construction is expected to take place over nine to 12 months.

To help defray the costs of setting up the system, LTA will provide a grant to the selected operator. Bidders will have to bid for a fixed amount of grant they need in each year of the contract.

LTA will also issue a second tender on Friday to invite potential bidders to help figure out how sponsorship for these systems will work out. It will work with the consultant to engage suitable sponsors, who will be entitled to naming and advertising rights to the system.

Those in New York and London are being considered by LTA, while Paris follows a different operator-financing model.