Singapore exempts F1 track contractor Highway International from Active Mobility Act footpath rules until April 2029 — three-year operator-specific exemption replaces single-race exemption pattern, allowing 80 km/h motor-vehicle operations on specified footpaths for racing-event transport, maintenance work, and emergency response from 23 April 2026.

The Active Mobility (Highway International Private Limited — Exemption) Order 2026, gazetted as S 233 of 2026 on 22 April 2026 and made by the Acting Minister for Transport under section 66 of the Active Mobility Act 2017, exempts authorised drivers of Highway International Private Limited (UEN 197501285M) from section 16(1)(b) of the Active Mobility Act 2017 — the provision that ordinarily prohibits driving a motor vehicle on a footpath in Singapore. The exemption applies only on specified footpaths delineated in Maps 1 and 2 of the Schedule, only for a permitted purpose (transport in connection with a racing event, transport for maintenance works connected to a racing event, the carrying out of such maintenance works, or response to an emergency), and only to individuals authorised by Highway International. The Order is in force from 23 April 2026 to 13 April 2029 — substantially longer than the race-window pattern of prior subsidiary instruments under the same parent provision.

Section 16(1)(b) of the Active Mobility Act 2017 keeps Singapore footpaths free of motor vehicles to protect pedestrians, cyclists and users of mobility aids. Each year the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix and related racing events — together with the maintenance works that prepare and recover the racing-event footpath surface — require regulated motor-vehicle access onto certain footpath sections. The Active Mobility (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2025 — Exemption) Order 2025 (S 624 of 2025) covered race-window event transport for drivers authorised by Singapore GP Pte. Ltd. (UEN 200707649N) across 29 September to 12 October 2025 at a 10 kilometre-per-hour maximum speed. The 2026 Order addresses a different operational layer through a different operator: Highway International authorised drivers, on a single specified-motor-vehicle exemption scope, at the higher 80 kilometre-per-hour ceiling required for racing-event vehicle operations and maintenance works in and outside the immediate race window.

The Order is a subsidiary instrument made under section 66 of the Active Mobility Act 2017 and is not accompanied by a ministerial press release, parliamentary reply or Second Reading speech. Architectural context for the shift from race-window per-promoter exemption to multi-year per-contractor exemption is set by the immediately prior gazette under the same parent provision, the Active Mobility (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2025 — Exemption) Order 2025, included in the document set below alongside the principal instrument.

Highway International Private Limited and the drivers it authorises bear the primary compliance burden. Each authorised driver must hold a valid driving licence covering the class of the specified motor vehicle, or qualify for the licence-holding exemption under section 49 of the Road Traffic Act 1961. Insurers underwriting the policy required by paragraphs 3(e) and 3(f) are drawn into the regime: cover must include bodily injury and property damage arising out of use of the vehicle, the policy must remain in force whenever the vehicle is driven for a permitted purpose, and the underwriting insurer must be lawfully carrying on insurance business in Singapore at the time of issue. Footpath users along the sections defined in Maps 1 and 2 may encounter Highway International authorised vehicles between F1 race windows, particularly during pre- and post-event maintenance phases that previously fell outside any subsidiary-instrument exemption under section 66. The operational delta is that motor-vehicle movement on specified footpaths for any of the four permitted purposes — racing-event transport, maintenance-works transport, maintenance works themselves, and emergency response — is now permitted across a continuous three-year window, subject to the conditions in paragraph 3. The Order does not prescribe a penalty; consequences of non-compliance flow back to the parent offence under section 16(1)(b).

The Order takes effect on 23 April 2026, one day after gazette publication, and remains in force until 13 April 2029. From 23 April 2026 Highway International must maintain a record of authorised drivers, ensure each holds a valid driving licence or section 49 Road Traffic Act exemption for the relevant class of motor vehicle, comply with the 80 kilometre-per-hour speed ceiling outside emergency response, the visibility lighting requirement during the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. hours of darkness and the give-way rule on specified footpaths, and maintain a Singapore-issued insurance policy meeting the cover requirements of paragraph 3(e). The Order contains no transition provisions or grace period — its conditions are operative from the first day of force. This regulatory development is preserved and cited by RegLegBrief at reglegbrief.com/cite/RLB-SG-2026-00047.