Background Information
As Singapore strives to be more urbanized and sustainable, there have been great efforts to promote public transportation. The “Walk, Cycle, Ride SG” was launched by Land Transport Authority (LTA) to enhance Singapore’s transportation system further to have a “travel car-lite” society. Singaporeans would commute to their destinations using public transportation to reduce the reliance on cars.
Based on these studies about the public’s reliance on public transportation, the team has agreed that accessibility and mobility was a high priority amongst Singaporeans. However, the team needs to investigate whether students prioritize accessibility inside the campus itself. Therefore, a survey was conducted by the team among 30 current SIT students and staff and the results show that around 80% of students think that accessibility and mobility with the campus compound are vital.
From these results, it is very clear that accessibility and mobility was a priority among the students and staff of SIT. A solution must be developed to help tackle the issue of accessibility and mobility within the new SIT Punggol campus.
Since the SIT Punggol campus is still on the drawing stage, there are no concrete plans by the SIT Punggol planning committee to implement a solar-powered scooter renting system. Therefore, the team has conducted studies on NUS, which has a scooter sharing system currently in use.
NUS has an e-scooter sharing system that is currently in use at the campus. NUS students would utilise the scooters to supplement the campus transport system that is already in place in the university campus itself.
Based on a survey conducted on 20 NUS students who were seen using the electric powered scooter, the overwhelming response as to why they were using the services is that they could access places in the school that is not easily reached even with the school’s bus system.
As SIT Punggol has not been built yet and there is currently no solar-powered scooter in use in Singapore now, the team proposes a pilot project of a solar-powered scooter to be implemented at the new SIT Punggol campus.
This pilot project would allow the students and staff of SIT Punggol to better navigate through the university campus. The scooters would help in the mobility of the students and staff as well as improve the connectivity and accessibility of the different buildings within the campus. As the scooters are charged using solar power, this would mean a decrease in the reliance on the power grids, meaning a cheaper and more sustainable way of getting energy.
Problem statement
SIT@Punggol should implement a self-sustaining e-scooter sharing service powered by solar energy for better mobility for students. However, in Singapore, there is currently no solar powered e-scooters in use yet.
The team proposes a solar-powered e-scooter sharing pilot project to be launched in SIT@Punggol after it is built. A solar-powered scooter would serve the needs of the students and staff of SIT Punggol in terms of mobility, is environmentally sustainable and also serve as an educational tool for future research.
Purpose statement
The purpose of this report is to propose to the planning committee of SIT@Punggol the implementation of personal mobility device within the vicinity of SIT@Punggol campus.
References:
Grab partners NUS to pilot new electric scooter sharing service on campus (2018). Retrieved 2018, 23 November from http://news.nus.edu.sg/press-releases/new-e-scooter-sharing-service
Walk Cycle Ride. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/walk-cycle-ride.html
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