SINGAPORE—Sarah Alatas’s morning commute used to be a breezy, 20-minute zip along tree-lined lanes on her Electrowolf Cyclone—a lightweight, foldable electric scooter that can whisk her across 50 miles of pavement on a single battery charge.

But since the Singapore government banned e-scooters on the city’s sidewalks last month and instructed patrolling transport officers to keep a lookout for errant riders, her mornings are more like elaborate scenes from a spy thriller.

First...