Personal Mobility Aid (PMA)
PMA
Just Tell Me
In Singapore, personal mobility aids are manual or motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters designed for people who cannot walk or have difficulty walking.
Also called: PMA, PMAs, Personal mobility aids
Explain Like I’m Five
PMA groups together devices intended to help someone move around when walking is difficult or impossible. A wheelchair and a mobility scooter can look different while serving that shared purpose. The category includes manual wheelchairs, so PMA does not always mean a battery-powered device.
Where You’ll Run Into It
In LTA active-mobility information and Singapore news reports naming a wheelchair or mobility scooter. Recognising the abbreviation helps readers understand which kind of device a report is discussing.
Example
“This leaflet says PMA. Does that include a wheelchair, or only a mobility scooter?”
A resident reading the leaflet at an HDB block’s void deck learns that PMA is the wider category: it includes manual wheelchairs, motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
The Part People Get Wrong
PMA and PMD are different terms. PMD means personal mobility device, a category that includes kick-scooters and electric scooters. A mobility scooter designed to carry a person with walking difficulties belongs to the PMA category; the shared word “scooter” does not make these categories interchangeable.