New guidelines on size, design of waiting bays for delivery riders

[SINGAPORE] Delivery riders using motorcycles, bicycles or e-bikes should be allocated designated parking spaces as waiting bays, new building guidelines have affirmed.

This was among several recommendations on food and parcel deliveries issued to building owners, managers, developers and other relevant professionals at the start of September.

Developments must be designed “to maintain a liveable environment, while supporting timely deliveries”, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) wrote in their newly released Last-Mile Delivery Guide for Developments.

The LTA and URA had already called in 2022 for malls to provide enough motorcycle lots and waiting bays for delivery riders, as well as an adequate parking grace period.

The delivery guide recommends allotting a space of 0.7 by 1.8 m for each bicycle or e-bike, and 0.8 by 2.4 m for each motorcycle. Delivery staff should be given a parking grace period of at least 15 minutes, and offered season parking, the guide added.

Delivery waiting bays should be near entrances, lifts and waiting points, with clear signage to indicate their locations. To assist riders and improve safety, these bays should be well-lit.

Paths for delivery vehicles could be kept separate from other traffic, with speed controls, safe pedestrian-crossing points and anti-slip flooring in place, going by the guidelines.

That is as the guide confirmed that developments should allow access for delivery workers and their vehicles, which is already a legal requirement for strata-titled projects.

Delivery workers should also be allowed access to lifts, as well as mobile or Wi-Fi networks in common areas such as basement car parks, to complete their deliveries.

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Building residents and tenants should be encouraged to collect parcels at the lobby – rather than individual units – to streamline last-mile deliveries, while security-conscious sites should offer collection points or lockers by entrances or guardhouses.

The delivery guide noted that local deliveries have increased due to e-commerce, with close to 40 per cent of residents ordering food or shopping online on at least a weekly basis.

“As e-commerce grows, our built environment must keep pace. Making appropriate changes brings benefits to delivery and security personnel, building managers as well as consumers, through safer parking, smoother operations and faster deliveries,” LTA and URA said.

Their recommendations stem from the formation of a Tripartite Workgroup for Last-Mile Deliveries in November 2023, with feedback from delivery workers taken into account.

The guide helps to design and manage developments to facilitate deliveries, the authorities said, adding: “Developments should implement the solutions that best suit their needs.”