By bicycle
Asked Singaporean about cycling in the city, many will be shocked, surprised and suggested that it is no difference than suicide, but this country is a greenhouse where people have a different definition on "safety". Contrary to popular perception, Singapore is fairly an easy place to use bikes as a substitute for public transportation.
The city is small, its landscape is flat, roads are well connected, air is pretty clean. Extraordinarily well disciplined drivers in Singapore mean that traffic is reasonably safe. In the city with such a low crime rate, there are not much designated bicycle parking places. Local people just lock it casually outside a shop. No surprise to all, there is a growing trend for this green transport.
The city has also seen some efforts to make it more bicycle friendly. You are now officially allowed to take a small folding bike on subway and approved to go cycling through the causeway to/from Singapore on the motorcyclist lane. A sign "Cyclists Ahead" can be seen on several major roads, although many bikers have experienced that some vehicles seem come extraordinarily close to you.
In most cases, police seems to have lesser harsh hands on bikers. Sometimes, local people may ride on pedestrian paths and in opposite directions but roads are as sophisticated as many big city. You have to figure out the legal routes and comply with traffic rules. Don't go by luck for riding on expressways. According to one account, he was stopped by the police 5 minutes after he rided on Bukit Timah Expressway to Malaysia. The police asked, "Did you read our law ah? Did you go to police station to ask approval? Do you know it's dangerous lah? Do you know you're in Singapore? Did you know Singapore is not the same? Do you know I can arrest you? Do you know we just want to protect you?" While the cyclist was finally released without being fined, the police called a towage order on the bike.
The thumb of rule is to ride as if you're driving in school districts. Your behaviour should be caring an gentle. Pedestrians always go first. Don't be rush and never scare anyone.
-Info courtesy of Wikitravel-
Yes, your 2nd paragraph listed almost all the goodies on cycling here.
ReplyDeleteHowever, locals here have virtually forgotten that bicycle has always been a commuting tool rather than only for recreation. Drivers here generally [but wrongly] think that road tax is a pre-requisite to use the roads, and still there are many drivers who expect cyclists to be on pavement instead of riding on the roads.
These, I think, are the reason for the contradictory popular perception.
Why policemen like to ask such intimidating questions? I think the exits/entrances from/to expressways is the reason that bicycle are not allowed because cyclists don't have the speed to cross them.
I am not sure what is the status now. You mentioned it is now official that one can cycle across the causeway on the motorcyclist lane, but I thought the motorcyclist lane started off from the BKE. What I did was to go up the slope by the car lane and make a left-U-turn, opposite direction for a short distance and then a U-turn to join the motorists. Has it been improved now?