Background
In year 2017, public bike-sharing platforms such as oBike, Ofobike and
Mobike started to make its way to our lion city. Locals were considerably
receptive to these newly introduced platforms as it enabled some to exercise on
their way to work or to school and head anywhere they desire when public
transport operators are closed. However, soon after the platforms were
introduced, several problems arose. One of the problems included bad parking
practices exhibited by users of the bikes, known as “indiscriminate parking”.
Lim stated that indiscriminate parking had led to the bicycles becoming a
public nuisance as it had obstructed the path of wheelchair and mobility aid
users and often posed as an obstruction to pedestrians and drivers (Lim,2017).
Channel News Asia published an article stating that even the Land Transport
Authority (LTA) had to step in to resolve the problem of “indiscriminate
parking” (Lim, 2017). He also stated a new framework had been introduced to
push public-bike operators in ensuring their users park their bikes properly
and at areas which pose no obstruction or danger to others.
Despite the efforts made by the authorities and bike-operators, measures
that had been implemented have failed given that there are still cases of
public-sharing bicycles not being parked at its designated parking areas which
in turn makes it difficult for prospective users to locate the bike when he or
she wishes to use it. Furthermore, based on our personal experiences, some of
us face the problem of not being able to find the bicycle even though we have
arrived at the location stated on the application’s GPS which indicates an
available bike. This problem occurs when users bring the bicycle up to the
level of their houses and lock it. Hence, the GPS may state an available
bicycle at the block, however prospective users may not be able to find it as
the bicycle is at an unknown level in the block.
We aim to resolve this bugging issue with a low cost yet feasible
solution. We are proposing an add-on to every bike-sharing application whereby
users would have to scan a unique QR code at the designated public parking area
before locking their bike and ending their trip. There would be a window of 30
seconds for the user to scan the code located next to the designated public
parking area and proceed to lock the bike. To ensure that users do not
manipulate this function, the unique QR code is only valid if its location
matches the exact location of the bike. This ensures that the user parks his or
her bike in the marked out yellow parking boxes or at least near the designated
parking areas. As a result, users would not be able to abuse their right to
park anywhere causing obstruction and prevents inconsiderate users who would
bring the bike up to their homes in HDB flats, claiming it for their own
personal use. This would then allow prospective users to be able to locate the
bikes easier as they would know where the usual designated parking areas are at
and resolves the issue of “indiscriminate parking” providing peace and
convenience for the community.
In conclusion, “indiscriminate parking” is a severe issue that needs to
be resolved quickly for the safety and convenience of the public as well as to
reduce losses of public-bike sharing operators. Thus, the additional QR code
scanning function for parking proposed would be a quick and low-cost solution
that builds on the existing features of the application resolving the pending
issue.
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