Singapore to ban e-scooters from footpaths – Channel News Asia
Singapore’s Land Transportation Authority (LTA) announced that it will ban e-scooters from footpaths in the country starting from November 5, Channel News Asia reported.
The use of such devices will be allowed on cycling paths and park connector networks, and there will be an advisory period until December 31.
Food delivery services in Singapore such as Deliveroo and Foodpanda are known to use e-scooters to deliver customers’ food.
Responding to this issue, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min stated that the regulation is not a complete ban on e-scooters and that LTA will work with such companies to help their riders switch to motorcycles or bicycles instead.
Grab, which services such as GrabWheels and GrabFood commonly use e-scooters, has issued a statement.
The company said that it plans to “engage in further dialogue” with the government for the possibility of riders who had displayed “responsible riding behaviours” to be given the option to continue on using e-scooters “under certain conditions.”
It will also reach out to all affected riders by end of this week.
Specifically on GrabWheels, Grab said that:
“With the new direction, GrabWheels will also commence measures to suspend its shared ePMD service progressively from November 5, 2019. All existing ride-plans will be refunded in the next 30 days to users’ credit cards. Grab remains committed to serving Singapore and will explore other ways to serve our users with alternative active mobility options.
GrabWheels has been growing our shared e-scooter service in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Indonesia. Our service in Indonesia has seen six-times growth in number of rides over the last three months, and we remain committed to expanding the service to the rest of the region.”
Singapore-based spacetech startup Aliena raises US$1M – Dealstreet Asia
Singapore-based space tech startup Aliena raises US$1.5 million (US$1 million) in a funding round led by Cap Vista Private Ltd, Dealstreet Asia reported.
Aliena designs low power propulsion systems for satellites to perform advanced manoeuvres in space. According to Aliena CEO and Co-Founder Mark Lim, this allows for more complex operations to be performed onboard smaller satellites.
Didi Chuxing in talks to enter the Philippines – The Philippine Daily Inquirer
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is in talks with U-Hop Transportation Network Vehicle System Inc. (U-Hop) for a partnership to enter the Philippines, The Philippines Inquirer reported.
Politician Luis “Chavit” Singson, who owns U-Hop, confirmed the talks and said that the partnership aims to “break the monopoly of Grab” in the market.
Officials from Didi and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) did not immediately responded to request for comments on Thursday.
U-Hop itself is one of the companies with licenses to operate a ride-hailing service in the Philippines.
TikTok declined to testify at US congressional hearing on risks to American consumers – SCMP
ByteDance’s TikTok has declined to testify at a congressional hearing scheduled by Republican Senator Josh Hawley to discuss its business and risks to American consumers, South China Morning Post reported.
“We appreciate Sen. Hawley’s invitation. Unfortunately, on short notice, we were unable to provide a witness who would be able to contribute to a substantive discussion,” a ByteDance spokesperson wrote.
In addition to TikTok, Apple was also invited to testify and had also declined the invitation.
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