“Right now, the line is unclear. So, no one is taking the lead,” Lee Chean Chung, who is chairman of the Centre of Regional Strategic Studies, told a press conference at the Parliament building today.
Lee, who is also Petaling Jaya MP, was explaining the think tank’s nine-page policy document issued today which proposes the integration of shared e-scooters into the urban transportation framework to address the critical gap in first and last-mile connectivity.
He urged the federal government to establish a legal framework to standardise the jurisdictions of e-scooters as this has become a hindrance to adoption by local councils.
“In comparison with policies and practices of countries such as Australia and Japan, the best practice of micro-mobility is for the federal government to set vehicle specification requirements, besides general guidelines for the local authorities to follow.
“The local authorities, on the other hand, should determine specific matters on road use, pavement use, age limit of riders and the maximum speed.”
Lee called for the construction of dedicated lanes for e-scooters, as well as other forms of micro-mobility vehicles such as bicycles, on roads that have speed limits above 30km/h in all major cities. Measures to prevent misuse by cars and motorcycles must also be included.
Lee proposed that a section of car parks be reserved for e-scooters at MRT and LRT stations.
He said the Petaling Jaya City Council, for instance, has designated special zones and lanes for e-scooter usage but only in a few places.
“So you can take an e-scooter from an LRT station to the nearest shoplot or commercial area or within the commercial areas, but you’re not allowed to go further. So it’s like a cage. You’re allowed to move, but not so freely.
“What we advocate is a different framework, which is to allow e-scooters to be used in all areas unless specified otherwise,” he said, adding that this would enable more extensive usage of such vehicles.
“Otherwise, e-scooters will only be used for leisure. This is not an economical or optimal way of capitalising on the advent of this new technology,” Lee said.