New safety course for food delivery riders
Grab riders who complete the course will get a smart helmet for free
Food delivery rider Khairul Anuar, 34, used to have to squeeze alongside pedestrians on his e-scooter.
But since switching to a power-assisted bicycle (PAB), he now has a different worry - dealing with traffic.
However, the full-time GrabFood delivery rider can now look forward to learning the basic skills required to stay safe on the road.
A new safety course aimed at delivery riders like him, who are switching to other transport modes because of the e-scooter footpath ban that kicked in on Nov 5, has been rolled out.
And if Mr Khairul completes the training, he will get a new smart helmet for free.
Produced by Singapore start-up Lumos, the helmet, which is exclusive to Grab, comes with built-in LED lights and turn signal indicators that can be activated through an app or a remote controller.
The Safe Riding On Pedal And Power-Assisted Bicycles (SRPP) course, which was announced yesterday, covers traffic rules, safety checks, vehicle maintenance and off-road and on-road scenarios.
The course is conducted by Grab, which employs a majority of the 7,000 delivery riders using personal mobility devices (PMDs) here, and was designed with Asian Detours, a Land Transport Authority (LTA)-approved facilitator of the existing Safe Riding Programme.It is voluntary and open to food delivery PMD riders from all platforms.
Grab Singapore's head of transport Andrew Chan said that road conditions are likely the biggest change for food delivery riders switching to bicycles and PABs, as there are debris and other hazards not normally seen on footpaths.
"Dealing with all of that and having to pedal and balance the delivery on your back... these are all the things (riders) are not as confident (about)," he added.
Grab's course is one of five one-day modules that make up the Delivery Rider Kit training programme developed by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as part of its efforts to help those struggling with the footpath ban.
Other courses cover areas like first aid, customer engagement, and emerging technology trends.
Up to 90 per cent of the course fees and training allowances will be covered by NTUC, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore, and it is fully subsidised for NTUC union members and Grab delivery riders.
The programme is expected to benefit more than 2,000 riders projected to switch away from e-scooters.
Along with the training programme, NTUC had also announced last month a short-term relief fund for NTUC union members facing financial difficulty as a result of the ban.
So far, a few hundred have applied for assistance, which comes in the form of one-time Kopitiam foodcourt and NTUC FairPrice gift cards.
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