By: NY1 News
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Sunday they've come to an agreement on a new bill to regulate pedicabs that owners support.
Quinn will introduce the pedicab legislation in two weeks, which the mayor says he will sign.
The legislation will give owners a 60-day window in which they must license all commercial pedal taxis, requires them to post rates and to pass safety inspections on tail lights, headlights, seatbelts and brakes, and addresses concerns like accidents.
"I think some drivers will lose work, because a lot of bikes are in really bad condition," said one driver. "For me it's good because I've got everything, the blinkers, the seat belts, the best bike, the best driver."
Just last week, a pedicab coming off the Williamsburg Bridge hit a taxi cab – injuring two people. The new city law requires the pedicab to have insurance to cover drivers and riders.
"I feel safe with the way they are now, but if they need to have the blinkers or the safety belts, so be it," said a pedicab rider. "I mean, I understand that. Safety is first."
After years of being at odds with the city over licensing, the Pedicab Owners Association says it will endorse the new plan.
"The Mayor and the Speaker's pedicab law amendment will allow only the safest pedicabs to operate on the streets of New York, and will drive those who place profits ahead of safety out of business for good," said the POA in a statement.
Sunday, June 28
'PEDI'-CURE PLAN CITY TO CRACK DOWN ON BIKE CABS AFTER CRASH
By ZOEY RUSSO and JENNIFER FERMINO
Less than a week after a pedicab crash on the Williamsburg Bridge seriously injured two people, City Hall yesterday announced new regulations requiring the three-wheeled vehicles to be licensed, have insurance and provide seatbelts for passengers.
The new rules also resurrect a ban prohibiting pedicabs from using bridges, tunnels or bike lanes, and require them to be equipped with waterproof brakes and lights.
"We've been asking for it for years," said pedicab driver John Allen, 55.
He believes stricter rules will force unsafe drivers off the road and create more business for law-abiding pedal-pushers.
"We're incredibly enthusiastic about it," said Chad Marlow, lawyer for the NYC Pedicab Owners' Association.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she'll quickly introduce the new legislation, and Mayor Bloomberg has pledged to sign it into law.
It's a marked change from 2007, when the mayor and the council squabbled over how many licenses to dole out to the growing industry.
Once the bill is passed, pedicab drivers will have two months to apply for licenses and pass a safety test. After that, the licensing process will be closed for 18 months.
Previously, the council voted to issue only 325 licenses. Bloomberg sided with the pedicab owners, who argued that it was an arbitrary number that would put people out of work.
When the council overrode Bloomberg's veto and enacted the regulations -- including the 325-license cap -- the pedicab owners sued the city.
The owners won their fight to have the caps removed in April, but during the prolonged legal battle, the other pedicab regulations were left in limbo.
A police source said that cops were told to "leave the pedicabs alone" while the litigation was hashed out in the courts.
"Not nearly as many summonses were given out as should have been," said the source.
Last Wednesday, a pedicab carrying three passengers crashed in Brooklyn right after it came off the Williamsburg Bridge.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
Less than a week after a pedicab crash on the Williamsburg Bridge seriously injured two people, City Hall yesterday announced new regulations requiring the three-wheeled vehicles to be licensed, have insurance and provide seatbelts for passengers.
The new rules also resurrect a ban prohibiting pedicabs from using bridges, tunnels or bike lanes, and require them to be equipped with waterproof brakes and lights.
"We've been asking for it for years," said pedicab driver John Allen, 55.
He believes stricter rules will force unsafe drivers off the road and create more business for law-abiding pedal-pushers.
"We're incredibly enthusiastic about it," said Chad Marlow, lawyer for the NYC Pedicab Owners' Association.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she'll quickly introduce the new legislation, and Mayor Bloomberg has pledged to sign it into law.
It's a marked change from 2007, when the mayor and the council squabbled over how many licenses to dole out to the growing industry.
Once the bill is passed, pedicab drivers will have two months to apply for licenses and pass a safety test. After that, the licensing process will be closed for 18 months.
Previously, the council voted to issue only 325 licenses. Bloomberg sided with the pedicab owners, who argued that it was an arbitrary number that would put people out of work.
When the council overrode Bloomberg's veto and enacted the regulations -- including the 325-license cap -- the pedicab owners sued the city.
The owners won their fight to have the caps removed in April, but during the prolonged legal battle, the other pedicab regulations were left in limbo.
A police source said that cops were told to "leave the pedicabs alone" while the litigation was hashed out in the courts.
"Not nearly as many summonses were given out as should have been," said the source.
Last Wednesday, a pedicab carrying three passengers crashed in Brooklyn right after it came off the Williamsburg Bridge.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
Pedicabs find niche in Decatur, but going is slow elsewhere in area
By Jamie Gumbrecht
There’s a new way to get around in Decatur, different even from the bicycles, scooters, rent-by-the-hour cars and mass transit that already make the city unique.
It involves a pair of pedicabs — bright yellow boxes large enough to seat two or three passengers, attached to an adult-sized tricycle — powered by Mike Gerke’s legs. For a few bucks, he runs short tours around town, takes tired event-goers to their parked cars or provides easy trips home after a long night out.
His pedicabs are the first to operate around Atlanta with the local government’s blessing, but he’s not the only one who wants to see more on the road.
Gerke, 52, and his wife moved to Decatur last year from Green Bay, Wis., after years of pedaling Packers fans around Lambeau Field parking lots for pay. Pedicabs have become part of traffic in cities from New York to Denver to Savannah, but Gerke thought the small city was a “perfect” candidate for short, person-powered trips.
After his city-designated six-month trial is complete at the end of 2009, he expects they’ll hammer out regulations for long-term pedicab use around downtown Decatur, Oakhurst and Agnes Scott College.
“It’s such a stop-and-stare,” Gerke said of the cabs, with their bright colors, blinking safety lights, hydraulic brakes and thick tires. “If you’re predictable, operate as trained, you’ll get drivers’ respect.”
Other pedicab owners would like to operate tours and short trips around Atlanta’s entertainment districts, but haven’t had such an easy time getting their businesses on the road.
Avid cyclist Matt McMahon, 32, and a friend bought a green pedicab months ago, but have shown it off only at festivals or when driving friends around town. McMahon talked to police permitting officers and city officials, but didn’t find regulations among the taxi cabs, trolleys, horse-and-buggy and bike rules that allowed pedicabs to operate safely.
He envisions a fleet of cabs, which typically cost $4,000 to $7,000, offering short, low-cost trips through Downtown, Midtown and neighborhood festivals. By placing ads for local businesses on the cab, they can keep ride cost down and transport people to the spots that seems just a bit too far to walk. For now, the “Atlanta Green Machine,” as he calls the cab, spends most of its time in a garage.
“We wanted to do something to help the community and support green business,” McMahon said. “I feel like we’re just going in circles now.”
Atlanta City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell said he likes pedicabs’ credentials as environmentally friendly small businesses that can fill the transportation gaps between buses, taxis and sightseeing vehicles, but it’s tough to make a priority when budgets and public safety occupy officials’ time.
He wants to hear more, too, about how to operate the vehicles safely and effectively in Atlanta’s notoriously heavy traffic.
“We’re probably another two or three months from even coming up with a pilot plan. It’s not because of lack of interest,” Mitchell said. “We’re constantly trying to think out of the box, but sometimes you have to be very realistic about the character of our city. There are factors we have to take into consideration that folks in Decatur don’t have to.”
Gerke, McMahon and Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Rebecca Serna said cities should have pedicab ordinances in place before the vehicles begin to operate on roads.
Serna has heard about “clueless,” unregulated pedicab drivers operating around Atlantic Station, and worries that an accident or a bad rider experience will ruin the vehicles’ reputations before they have a chance to take off in the city.
Pedicabs travel at slow speeds — 12 mph would be considered fast — and are difficult to tip. But they’re not immune to accidents. In August 2008, a tourist was killed in Portland, Ore., after the unregulated pedicab he was riding in ran a red light while traveling down a steep hill.
Serna wants Atlanta pedicab operators to be trained, insured and traveling along designated routes that stay away from hills or traffic hazards.
“Once people understand what they are,” Serna said, “traffic will adjust.”
There’s a new way to get around in Decatur, different even from the bicycles, scooters, rent-by-the-hour cars and mass transit that already make the city unique.
It involves a pair of pedicabs — bright yellow boxes large enough to seat two or three passengers, attached to an adult-sized tricycle — powered by Mike Gerke’s legs. For a few bucks, he runs short tours around town, takes tired event-goers to their parked cars or provides easy trips home after a long night out.
His pedicabs are the first to operate around Atlanta with the local government’s blessing, but he’s not the only one who wants to see more on the road.
Gerke, 52, and his wife moved to Decatur last year from Green Bay, Wis., after years of pedaling Packers fans around Lambeau Field parking lots for pay. Pedicabs have become part of traffic in cities from New York to Denver to Savannah, but Gerke thought the small city was a “perfect” candidate for short, person-powered trips.
After his city-designated six-month trial is complete at the end of 2009, he expects they’ll hammer out regulations for long-term pedicab use around downtown Decatur, Oakhurst and Agnes Scott College.
“It’s such a stop-and-stare,” Gerke said of the cabs, with their bright colors, blinking safety lights, hydraulic brakes and thick tires. “If you’re predictable, operate as trained, you’ll get drivers’ respect.”
Other pedicab owners would like to operate tours and short trips around Atlanta’s entertainment districts, but haven’t had such an easy time getting their businesses on the road.
Avid cyclist Matt McMahon, 32, and a friend bought a green pedicab months ago, but have shown it off only at festivals or when driving friends around town. McMahon talked to police permitting officers and city officials, but didn’t find regulations among the taxi cabs, trolleys, horse-and-buggy and bike rules that allowed pedicabs to operate safely.
He envisions a fleet of cabs, which typically cost $4,000 to $7,000, offering short, low-cost trips through Downtown, Midtown and neighborhood festivals. By placing ads for local businesses on the cab, they can keep ride cost down and transport people to the spots that seems just a bit too far to walk. For now, the “Atlanta Green Machine,” as he calls the cab, spends most of its time in a garage.
“We wanted to do something to help the community and support green business,” McMahon said. “I feel like we’re just going in circles now.”
Atlanta City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell said he likes pedicabs’ credentials as environmentally friendly small businesses that can fill the transportation gaps between buses, taxis and sightseeing vehicles, but it’s tough to make a priority when budgets and public safety occupy officials’ time.
He wants to hear more, too, about how to operate the vehicles safely and effectively in Atlanta’s notoriously heavy traffic.
“We’re probably another two or three months from even coming up with a pilot plan. It’s not because of lack of interest,” Mitchell said. “We’re constantly trying to think out of the box, but sometimes you have to be very realistic about the character of our city. There are factors we have to take into consideration that folks in Decatur don’t have to.”
Gerke, McMahon and Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Rebecca Serna said cities should have pedicab ordinances in place before the vehicles begin to operate on roads.
Serna has heard about “clueless,” unregulated pedicab drivers operating around Atlantic Station, and worries that an accident or a bad rider experience will ruin the vehicles’ reputations before they have a chance to take off in the city.
Pedicabs travel at slow speeds — 12 mph would be considered fast — and are difficult to tip. But they’re not immune to accidents. In August 2008, a tourist was killed in Portland, Ore., after the unregulated pedicab he was riding in ran a red light while traveling down a steep hill.
Serna wants Atlanta pedicab operators to be trained, insured and traveling along designated routes that stay away from hills or traffic hazards.
“Once people understand what they are,” Serna said, “traffic will adjust.”
Stalled Plan to License Pedicabs Advances
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
The city will move forward with its long-stalled regulation of pedicabs, officials said on Sunday, four days after an accident in Brooklyn seriously injured a driver and focused attention on the lack of oversight of the tourist-friendly tricycles.
Owners of the pedal-powered cabs would have a 60-day window to register with the city, under a proposal announced by the mayor and the City Council speaker. Those who provide proof of ownership and insurance would receive a license, providing that their vehicles pass a safety examination.
The proposed rules are a shift from the city’s first attempt at regulating the industry in 2007, when the city insisted on a limit to the number of licenses it would issue. Pedicab owners sued, arguing the cap would hurt established businesses, and regulation was held up for two years.
The lawsuit was resolved in April, and the licensing cap was thrown out. In the meantime, safety laws enacted in 2007 — including the requirement of seat belts, turn signals and emergency brakes — have not been enforced. Last week, a pedicab collided with a taxi at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, injuring the pedicab driver and two passengers.
Advocates for regulation said the city should have enforced rules that made it illegal for pedicabs to travel on bridges, but the city said it was powerless until a licensing procedure could be established.
Sunday’s proposal was an attempt to end that impasse, but enforcement may still be a few weeks or months away. The proposal must wind its way through the legislative review process, and city officials have said their hands are tied on regulation until the new procedure becomes law. (The first public hearing for the bill is set for the end of month.)
But one potential hurdle may have been cleared: Pedicab owners who sued over the original licensing plan said they had no qualms with the new proposal.
“This is really what we had been hoping for from the beginning,” said Chad Marlow, a lawyer for the New York City Pedicab Owners Association. “We think we’ll be the most vigilant supporters of the bill out there.”
City officials said the plan had been in the works since April, when the lawsuit was resolved.
“To say the mayor and the speaker saw this accident and they’re jumping into action because of that, that would take credit away from them,” Mr. Marlow said.
The bill would require pedicabs to display a fare card, owner information and contacts so passengers can file complaints. The city would revisit licensing rules after 18 months. The original rules limited licenses to 325; owners estimated that there were about 1,000 pedicabs in the city.
One pedicab operator said Sunday that the new rules could still put established companies at a disadvantage. “It leaves the window wide open for anyone who is going to speculate on this and say, ‘If I’m going to jump in the pedicab business, now’s my time,’ ” said Robert Tipton, owner of Mr. Rickshaw.
“An accident is always an unfortunate thing to have happen,” he said. “But if there is any good that’s coming out of it, pedicabs in New York City should be safer after this.”
The city will move forward with its long-stalled regulation of pedicabs, officials said on Sunday, four days after an accident in Brooklyn seriously injured a driver and focused attention on the lack of oversight of the tourist-friendly tricycles.
Owners of the pedal-powered cabs would have a 60-day window to register with the city, under a proposal announced by the mayor and the City Council speaker. Those who provide proof of ownership and insurance would receive a license, providing that their vehicles pass a safety examination.
The proposed rules are a shift from the city’s first attempt at regulating the industry in 2007, when the city insisted on a limit to the number of licenses it would issue. Pedicab owners sued, arguing the cap would hurt established businesses, and regulation was held up for two years.
The lawsuit was resolved in April, and the licensing cap was thrown out. In the meantime, safety laws enacted in 2007 — including the requirement of seat belts, turn signals and emergency brakes — have not been enforced. Last week, a pedicab collided with a taxi at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, injuring the pedicab driver and two passengers.
Advocates for regulation said the city should have enforced rules that made it illegal for pedicabs to travel on bridges, but the city said it was powerless until a licensing procedure could be established.
Sunday’s proposal was an attempt to end that impasse, but enforcement may still be a few weeks or months away. The proposal must wind its way through the legislative review process, and city officials have said their hands are tied on regulation until the new procedure becomes law. (The first public hearing for the bill is set for the end of month.)
But one potential hurdle may have been cleared: Pedicab owners who sued over the original licensing plan said they had no qualms with the new proposal.
“This is really what we had been hoping for from the beginning,” said Chad Marlow, a lawyer for the New York City Pedicab Owners Association. “We think we’ll be the most vigilant supporters of the bill out there.”
City officials said the plan had been in the works since April, when the lawsuit was resolved.
“To say the mayor and the speaker saw this accident and they’re jumping into action because of that, that would take credit away from them,” Mr. Marlow said.
The bill would require pedicabs to display a fare card, owner information and contacts so passengers can file complaints. The city would revisit licensing rules after 18 months. The original rules limited licenses to 325; owners estimated that there were about 1,000 pedicabs in the city.
One pedicab operator said Sunday that the new rules could still put established companies at a disadvantage. “It leaves the window wide open for anyone who is going to speculate on this and say, ‘If I’m going to jump in the pedicab business, now’s my time,’ ” said Robert Tipton, owner of Mr. Rickshaw.
“An accident is always an unfortunate thing to have happen,” he said. “But if there is any good that’s coming out of it, pedicabs in New York City should be safer after this.”
Spokane Pedicab is GU duo's brainchild
SPOKANE -- You might see a new spin on an old form of transportation in Downtown Spokane starting Hoopfest weekend. It's the business brainchild of two Gonzaga students.
"We just had this idea," said Gonzaga Student Kevin Darrow.
Darrow wanted to start his own business, he wanted to start a pedicab company.
"I started to get comfortable with opening my own business and I talked to Sam about it," Darrow said.
Darrow's friend Sam Youtsey was less than enthused.
"My first reaction? It sounded a little silly," Youtsey said. "The more we thought about it, the more it made sense."
So with an idea in the works, the guys looked into it.
"We did research on companies in Portland, in Seattle, Eugene, Denver... everywhere they have a pedicab company, they're successful."
The pair lined up investors, got a bicycle taxi, got the shirts, licenses and insurance. $11,000 later, Spokane has it's own pedicab company.
"I'm kind of nervous because it's a new thing and our new business, but I'm really excited," said Darrow.
They'll pick you up in downtown if you call them, or you can simply just flag them down.
The duo knew it wasn't going to be easy, in fact sometimes the physical labor is hard work.
"By the end of the summer I'll be in pretty good shape," Darrow said.
To fight fatigue, Sam and Kevin rotate shifts on the taxi.
"We have a shift of five hours a piece,"said Darrow.
They've taken quite the risk with their new business. During Hoopfest, Spokane Pedicab's inaugural weekend, they need the Hoopfest crowds to take advantage of their new and unique service.
"Hoopfest is going to be huge for us," Youtsey said.
The guys do tours around the Gonzaga campus or up and down the Centennial Trail for flat fees. Their taxi service around downtown is really cheap, about 50 cents per bloc
Take a pedicab ride at the beach
By Andrew Ostroski
REHOBOTH BEACH -- The streets of coastal Delaware can be a crowded place.
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Often, traffic can be bumper to bumper, with cars stacked up at red lights, stuck mid-turn around corners and knocking fenders while looking for parking. But there are more ways to get around beach areas.
The classic way is on a bike. The number of bikes ridden through the streets of coastal towns can be both a positive and a negative, according to some.
"We're very fortunate, because bikes do help with the parking situation downtown," said Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks. "But what becomes the burden is when people don't follow the rules of the road."
Banks said with the number of bikes on the streets of Rehoboth Beach coupled with the motor vehicle traffic, both riders and drivers need to keep their eyes open for others on the road.
Not in the mood for manual labor? Mopeds have also been popular items for renting in beach towns. But for those who are frightened of the prospect of a two-wheel balancing act, something else has appeared on the market --the Scoot Coupe, a single-cylinder engine-powered, three-wheel moped that seats two like an automobile but is controlled using handlebars.
Some have expressed safety concerns regarding the vehicles, but Banks said problems have been few and far between in Rehoboth.
"The only concern we've had with these is people making the comment to us that they're very low and sometimes difficult to see," he said. "But they are licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles and they have all the correct lights and turn signals and things like that, and they have tall orange flags so they can be seen."
If you're not up for operating your own vehicle, a mainstay of Route 1 and streets branching off of it is the Dewey Beach Rickshaws. Adam Henderson bought the company several years ago and said the pedicabs are popular among late-night crowds in downtown Dewey.
Henderson's fleet of nine pedicabs are operated by a team of drivers who are trained in traffic laws and safety involved with operating the vehicles since they travel in traffic lanes. Of course, lugging passengers up and down Route 1 isn't for everyone.
"I have some of these guys who come to try out who think just because they can ride a bike they can do this," he said. "They can't."
REHOBOTH BEACH -- The streets of coastal Delaware can be a crowded place.
Advertisement
Often, traffic can be bumper to bumper, with cars stacked up at red lights, stuck mid-turn around corners and knocking fenders while looking for parking. But there are more ways to get around beach areas.
The classic way is on a bike. The number of bikes ridden through the streets of coastal towns can be both a positive and a negative, according to some.
"We're very fortunate, because bikes do help with the parking situation downtown," said Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks. "But what becomes the burden is when people don't follow the rules of the road."
Banks said with the number of bikes on the streets of Rehoboth Beach coupled with the motor vehicle traffic, both riders and drivers need to keep their eyes open for others on the road.
Not in the mood for manual labor? Mopeds have also been popular items for renting in beach towns. But for those who are frightened of the prospect of a two-wheel balancing act, something else has appeared on the market --the Scoot Coupe, a single-cylinder engine-powered, three-wheel moped that seats two like an automobile but is controlled using handlebars.
Some have expressed safety concerns regarding the vehicles, but Banks said problems have been few and far between in Rehoboth.
"The only concern we've had with these is people making the comment to us that they're very low and sometimes difficult to see," he said. "But they are licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles and they have all the correct lights and turn signals and things like that, and they have tall orange flags so they can be seen."
If you're not up for operating your own vehicle, a mainstay of Route 1 and streets branching off of it is the Dewey Beach Rickshaws. Adam Henderson bought the company several years ago and said the pedicabs are popular among late-night crowds in downtown Dewey.
Henderson's fleet of nine pedicabs are operated by a team of drivers who are trained in traffic laws and safety involved with operating the vehicles since they travel in traffic lanes. Of course, lugging passengers up and down Route 1 isn't for everyone.
"I have some of these guys who come to try out who think just because they can ride a bike they can do this," he said. "They can't."
WOMAN SAYS PEDICAB RIDE ENDED IN INJURY
By DAREH GREGORIAN
A Brooklyn woman says she suffered a "serious injury" while enjoying a pedicab ride through Central Park.
In what's believed to be a first of its kind case, Ana Angeli Guterrez Perez pedi driver Sherif Hamouda's "carelessness, recklessness and negligence" resulted in her injuring her head on April 23 of last year.
That's when the Cypress Hills resident was "thrown out of" the pedicab as the driver went down a slight incline on the East Drive near 72nd Street and hit a pothole, the suit says.
"The guy lost control," said her lawyer Stuart Perry.
He said Perez suffered a "closed head injury," and has suffered from headaches, blurry vision and inability to concentrate ever since.
The suit, which seeks unspecified money damages, also names the city as a defendant because of the pothole.
"I truly doubt the pedicab has any insurance but this lady deserves her day in court," Perry said.
"She's an average nice lady who was just in a park going through the park on a nice day."
A Brooklyn woman says she suffered a "serious injury" while enjoying a pedicab ride through Central Park.
In what's believed to be a first of its kind case, Ana Angeli Guterrez Perez pedi driver Sherif Hamouda's "carelessness, recklessness and negligence" resulted in her injuring her head on April 23 of last year.
That's when the Cypress Hills resident was "thrown out of" the pedicab as the driver went down a slight incline on the East Drive near 72nd Street and hit a pothole, the suit says.
"The guy lost control," said her lawyer Stuart Perry.
He said Perez suffered a "closed head injury," and has suffered from headaches, blurry vision and inability to concentrate ever since.
The suit, which seeks unspecified money damages, also names the city as a defendant because of the pothole.
"I truly doubt the pedicab has any insurance but this lady deserves her day in court," Perry said.
"She's an average nice lady who was just in a park going through the park on a nice day."
Pedicab Regulation
By Richard A. Epstein,
Around 7:30 a.m., on June 10, 2009, a pedicab driver crashed into a taxicab while getting off the Williamsburg Bridge, injuring himself and his passenger. The pedicab driver was at fault and presumably liable both for personal injuries and property damage.
That's the small story. The large story is that four days later, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proudly announced New York City will finally impose regulation on the growing pedicab industry, with the blessing of its trade association, which only two years before had beaten back an earlier version of these regulations.
The new regulatory system will license pedicab drivers, mandate liability insurance and impose detailed safety rules on such issues as brake pads, headlights, taillights and vehicular size. Similar regulatory initiatives are afoot in both Chicago and London. This regulatory boomlet poses two challenges to regulation: why and how?
It's estimated that there are about 1,000 pedicabs cruising New York City. So why does a single accident suffice to ignite this regulatory cascade? I am not aware of any city that licenses bicycle riders or pedestrians, but both pose greater safety risks. Like bike riders, pedicab drivers know that they expose both life and limb. So too do their passengers. Self-help is imperfect, but it is also cheap. Can any system of regulation do so much better as to justify its costs?
It's a tough question. Yet, no one, and certainly no libertarian, can brand as illegitimate any safety regulation intended to protect others from physical harm. Not only does the state have general regulatory powers, but it also owns the public highways. Shouldn't that extra power allow it to adopt the same kind of restrictions that a private condominium association imposes on its members?
Well, not quite. Private owners can exclude outsiders for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all. The state, as a fiduciary for all people, can exclude people for good reason only. It could not decide, for example, to let only men, Protestants or Republicans pedal a cab in New York City.
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Safety rules, however, count as good reasons because they can reduce the social costs of accidents. Licensing can keep dangerous drivers off the road. Liability insurance provides compensation for accident victims. Vehicular safety devices prevent accidents. Yet, alas, all good ends can be perverted, for crafty safety regulations can be deployed for partisan ends--to drive the economic competitors to cabs, buses and livery services off the street. No explicit safety regulation should be free of public scrutiny.
Regrettably, many transportation regulations don't bother to hide behind the safety fig leaf. They just play the public ownership card. For example, the aborted 2007 New York regulation would have reduced the number of pedicabs from 1,000 to 300--great news for the pedicab survivors and the regular cabs, but bad news for everyone else.
Chicago's proposed pedicab regulation raises this anticompetitive theme to an art form. Buried in its insurance and safety standards is a prohibition against operating "a pedicab along any route unless such route is first approved by rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner."
This is troublesome, because the rule can't be dismissed out of hand since it could make sense to prohibit, as the New York rules will do, the operation of pedicabs on bridges or, more critically, in tunnels. And it surely makes sense to keep these slowpokes off interstate highways. But the use of the word "route" signals the strong likelihood that the commissioner will, in good Chicago style, also keep pedicabs off safe routes that compete with ordinary cabs or city buses.
At this point, a constitutional challenge is in order. No system of limited government can rule out state ownership of roads. But none should tolerate using state monopoly power to upset the level playing field between competitive businesses. Both New York and Chicago have a long and disgraceful history of keeping jitneys off the roads because of the competition that they give the city-owned, and union-operated, buses. If private utilities used their power for similar partisan ends, they would be on the receiving end of civil and criminal sanctions. The government ownership of the roads does not cleanse these anticompetitive practices for pedicabs or anything else. Our libertarian moral is this: Public safety should never be a pretext for anticompetitive regulation, be it on public roads or private property.
Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall distinguished service professor of law, the University of Chicago; the Peter and Kirsten Bedford senior fellow, the Hoover Institution, and a visiting professor at New York University Law School.
Around 7:30 a.m., on June 10, 2009, a pedicab driver crashed into a taxicab while getting off the Williamsburg Bridge, injuring himself and his passenger. The pedicab driver was at fault and presumably liable both for personal injuries and property damage.
That's the small story. The large story is that four days later, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proudly announced New York City will finally impose regulation on the growing pedicab industry, with the blessing of its trade association, which only two years before had beaten back an earlier version of these regulations.
The new regulatory system will license pedicab drivers, mandate liability insurance and impose detailed safety rules on such issues as brake pads, headlights, taillights and vehicular size. Similar regulatory initiatives are afoot in both Chicago and London. This regulatory boomlet poses two challenges to regulation: why and how?
It's estimated that there are about 1,000 pedicabs cruising New York City. So why does a single accident suffice to ignite this regulatory cascade? I am not aware of any city that licenses bicycle riders or pedestrians, but both pose greater safety risks. Like bike riders, pedicab drivers know that they expose both life and limb. So too do their passengers. Self-help is imperfect, but it is also cheap. Can any system of regulation do so much better as to justify its costs?
It's a tough question. Yet, no one, and certainly no libertarian, can brand as illegitimate any safety regulation intended to protect others from physical harm. Not only does the state have general regulatory powers, but it also owns the public highways. Shouldn't that extra power allow it to adopt the same kind of restrictions that a private condominium association imposes on its members?
Well, not quite. Private owners can exclude outsiders for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all. The state, as a fiduciary for all people, can exclude people for good reason only. It could not decide, for example, to let only men, Protestants or Republicans pedal a cab in New York City.
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Safety rules, however, count as good reasons because they can reduce the social costs of accidents. Licensing can keep dangerous drivers off the road. Liability insurance provides compensation for accident victims. Vehicular safety devices prevent accidents. Yet, alas, all good ends can be perverted, for crafty safety regulations can be deployed for partisan ends--to drive the economic competitors to cabs, buses and livery services off the street. No explicit safety regulation should be free of public scrutiny.
Regrettably, many transportation regulations don't bother to hide behind the safety fig leaf. They just play the public ownership card. For example, the aborted 2007 New York regulation would have reduced the number of pedicabs from 1,000 to 300--great news for the pedicab survivors and the regular cabs, but bad news for everyone else.
Chicago's proposed pedicab regulation raises this anticompetitive theme to an art form. Buried in its insurance and safety standards is a prohibition against operating "a pedicab along any route unless such route is first approved by rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner."
This is troublesome, because the rule can't be dismissed out of hand since it could make sense to prohibit, as the New York rules will do, the operation of pedicabs on bridges or, more critically, in tunnels. And it surely makes sense to keep these slowpokes off interstate highways. But the use of the word "route" signals the strong likelihood that the commissioner will, in good Chicago style, also keep pedicabs off safe routes that compete with ordinary cabs or city buses.
At this point, a constitutional challenge is in order. No system of limited government can rule out state ownership of roads. But none should tolerate using state monopoly power to upset the level playing field between competitive businesses. Both New York and Chicago have a long and disgraceful history of keeping jitneys off the roads because of the competition that they give the city-owned, and union-operated, buses. If private utilities used their power for similar partisan ends, they would be on the receiving end of civil and criminal sanctions. The government ownership of the roads does not cleanse these anticompetitive practices for pedicabs or anything else. Our libertarian moral is this: Public safety should never be a pretext for anticompetitive regulation, be it on public roads or private property.
Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall distinguished service professor of law, the University of Chicago; the Peter and Kirsten Bedford senior fellow, the Hoover Institution, and a visiting professor at New York University Law School.
Pedicabs pedals green fare
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Paul Kletter has traveled the world, and along the way he noticed a thing or two. Like rickshaws, which he saw throughout Southeast Asia. They were an efficient, easy way to navigate through congested streets and were emission-free. So when Mr. Kletter, 28, returned home to Upper St. Clair, he thought the time might be right to introduce them to Pittsburgh.
And so on St. Patrick's Day he rolled out the city's first pedicabs, bicycle-driven rickshaws made in England to the most demanding comfort and safety specs. Mr. Kletter's Green Gears now boasts seven pedicabs on patrol in the Cultural District, South Side, North Shore, Strip District, Oakland and Shadyside.
The man-powered vehicles are ideal for going short distances, especially Downtown, where many taxis do their best to avoid brief trips. But they can also take riders longer distances, say, from PNC Park to the SouthSide Works.
Independent operators lease the pedicabs from Mr. Kletter, who provides storage, roadside assistance and the pricey insurance that only two companies offer. Customers can form a relationship with the drivers and call them directly to arrange a ride, call the office, or stop a pedicab on the street and jump in. The rate is $1 a block, $40 an hour for special events like weddings or negotiable for longer distances and times. A cab can hold up to three people.
"We offer clean transportation, which aligns perfectly with Pittsburgh right now as one of the major green advocates in the country. We can also help the local community by acquainting people with the area and giving suggestions on restaurants, shops and nightlife," Mr. Kletter says.
As unofficial tour guides, the drivers will recommend places they think are terrific, "not skewed by bribery or something like that." Mr. Kletter also promotes the pedicabs for mobile marketing purposes and hopes to one day offer private service to Downtown companies that would like to keep a pedicab on call.
Mr. Kletter, whose girlfriend, Mary Beth Karabinos, started the company with him, says the response to Green Gears has been great.
"Though an occasional passer-by will shout, 'Where the hell did you make that -- your basement?' "
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09174/979176-51.stm#ixzz0JhnpjCP7&D
Paul Kletter has traveled the world, and along the way he noticed a thing or two. Like rickshaws, which he saw throughout Southeast Asia. They were an efficient, easy way to navigate through congested streets and were emission-free. So when Mr. Kletter, 28, returned home to Upper St. Clair, he thought the time might be right to introduce them to Pittsburgh.
And so on St. Patrick's Day he rolled out the city's first pedicabs, bicycle-driven rickshaws made in England to the most demanding comfort and safety specs. Mr. Kletter's Green Gears now boasts seven pedicabs on patrol in the Cultural District, South Side, North Shore, Strip District, Oakland and Shadyside.
The man-powered vehicles are ideal for going short distances, especially Downtown, where many taxis do their best to avoid brief trips. But they can also take riders longer distances, say, from PNC Park to the SouthSide Works.
Independent operators lease the pedicabs from Mr. Kletter, who provides storage, roadside assistance and the pricey insurance that only two companies offer. Customers can form a relationship with the drivers and call them directly to arrange a ride, call the office, or stop a pedicab on the street and jump in. The rate is $1 a block, $40 an hour for special events like weddings or negotiable for longer distances and times. A cab can hold up to three people.
"We offer clean transportation, which aligns perfectly with Pittsburgh right now as one of the major green advocates in the country. We can also help the local community by acquainting people with the area and giving suggestions on restaurants, shops and nightlife," Mr. Kletter says.
As unofficial tour guides, the drivers will recommend places they think are terrific, "not skewed by bribery or something like that." Mr. Kletter also promotes the pedicabs for mobile marketing purposes and hopes to one day offer private service to Downtown companies that would like to keep a pedicab on call.
Mr. Kletter, whose girlfriend, Mary Beth Karabinos, started the company with him, says the response to Green Gears has been great.
"Though an occasional passer-by will shout, 'Where the hell did you make that -- your basement?' "
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09174/979176-51.stm#ixzz0JhnpjCP7&D
Saturday, June 27
Brooklyn Woman Sues City for Pedicab Ejection
by Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman has sued the city claiming she was thrown out of a pedicab and injured when it hit an unidentified bump on a Central Park roadway.
Ana Perez’ court papers say the accident occurred on the park’s East Drive near 72nd Street in April 2008. Perez says she was thrown onto the roadway and “seriously injured.” She says the pedicab lost control when it hit the bump.
The bump was not described in the court papers. Perez filed the lawsuit Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court. She says the city failed to maintain the roadway properly.
Her lawsuit asks unspecified damages. Perez’ lawyer did not return a call for comment.
A city Law Department spokeswoman said her office had not received the lawsuit and had no comment.
NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman has sued the city claiming she was thrown out of a pedicab and injured when it hit an unidentified bump on a Central Park roadway.
Ana Perez’ court papers say the accident occurred on the park’s East Drive near 72nd Street in April 2008. Perez says she was thrown onto the roadway and “seriously injured.” She says the pedicab lost control when it hit the bump.
The bump was not described in the court papers. Perez filed the lawsuit Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court. She says the city failed to maintain the roadway properly.
Her lawsuit asks unspecified damages. Perez’ lawyer did not return a call for comment.
A city Law Department spokeswoman said her office had not received the lawsuit and had no comment.
Some Petoskey officials view pedicab ads as unacceptable
By Ryan Bentley News-Review Staff Writer
A downtown Petoskey pedicab service’s sales of advertising space on its vehicles is a topic that’s stirred numerous questions among city officials.
When fitted with advertisements for outside businesses, city planning officials have concluded that the pedicabs — large tricycles with carriage-like rear seats — function like trailered signs, which Petoskey’s sign ordinance prohibits. Signs identifying the pedicab business itself don’t pose an issue.
Members of the downtown management board, however, wonder if the sign rules might indeed provide room for ad sales, and would like city legal counsel to weigh in on the matter. Acting city manager Al Terry said he’ll soon have attorney Jim Murray consider this.
On Tuesday, the downtown board voted 6-0 in favor of a resolution indicating that the pedicab service is consistent with the board’s marketing plan and mission. It requests that the city attorney review the sign ordinance and give an opinion as to whether the pedicab ads are allowable. Three downtown board members — James Reid III, Jennifer Shorter and Bill Takalo — were absent and did not vote.
“The board felt there was ambiguity in the sign ordinance,” said mayor and downtown board member Ted Pall. “Certainly, the word pedicab doesn’t exist in there.”
Petoskey Pedicab LLC owners Josh Lycka and Calvin Schemanski began offering rides in and near the business district last month.
“(Income from ads is) the main thing that’s keeping us downtown,” Lycka said. “It provides us a fixed revenue (source).”
In reviewing a proposal for the pedicab advertising, a city sign committee concluded that the vehicles would fall within the prohibited category of trailered signs. Schemanksi and Lycka then appealed this decision to the Petoskey Planning Commission in March, where a proposal to reverse the sign committee’s decision died by a 3-5 vote.
“We’d like to see them succeed, but we felt with the way the ordinance is written at this time, it wasn’t allowed,” planning commission chairman Gary Greenwell said.
Updates to the sign ordinance to address such situations might be a possibility, Greenwell said, but “it should be researched and something put together that covered a broader spectrum rather than just be specific to a pedicab.”
Greenwell noted that the planning commission had suggested some acceptable options for Lycka and Schemanski to generate advertising revenue — like selling ads on T-shirts, an idea which the pedicab operators did decide to use along with the rear-mounted signs.
“We were trying to give them some ideas and be flexible,” Greenwell said.
City planner Amy Tweeten is aware that the pedicabs have been displaying outside advertisements.
“As far as I’m concerned, they’re in violation,” she said. “I will be citing them.”
Sign-ordinance violations are treated as a civil infraction punishable with a fine.
Asked why the pedicab operators decided to go forward with the advertisements after they were ruled unacceptable, Lycka said: “We were putting up the sign in order to get permission for it through some sort of an appeal. We put up a sign not out of spite, but out of a positive effort to appeal the decision.”
At this point, Lycka said he and Schemanski are unsure as to whether they’d contest a ticket. Noting that the pedicab operators dont have hard feelings toward the city, he added that they might try to resolve the situation through negotiation or look for a way to operate under existing rules.
A downtown Petoskey pedicab service’s sales of advertising space on its vehicles is a topic that’s stirred numerous questions among city officials.
When fitted with advertisements for outside businesses, city planning officials have concluded that the pedicabs — large tricycles with carriage-like rear seats — function like trailered signs, which Petoskey’s sign ordinance prohibits. Signs identifying the pedicab business itself don’t pose an issue.
Members of the downtown management board, however, wonder if the sign rules might indeed provide room for ad sales, and would like city legal counsel to weigh in on the matter. Acting city manager Al Terry said he’ll soon have attorney Jim Murray consider this.
On Tuesday, the downtown board voted 6-0 in favor of a resolution indicating that the pedicab service is consistent with the board’s marketing plan and mission. It requests that the city attorney review the sign ordinance and give an opinion as to whether the pedicab ads are allowable. Three downtown board members — James Reid III, Jennifer Shorter and Bill Takalo — were absent and did not vote.
“The board felt there was ambiguity in the sign ordinance,” said mayor and downtown board member Ted Pall. “Certainly, the word pedicab doesn’t exist in there.”
Petoskey Pedicab LLC owners Josh Lycka and Calvin Schemanski began offering rides in and near the business district last month.
“(Income from ads is) the main thing that’s keeping us downtown,” Lycka said. “It provides us a fixed revenue (source).”
In reviewing a proposal for the pedicab advertising, a city sign committee concluded that the vehicles would fall within the prohibited category of trailered signs. Schemanksi and Lycka then appealed this decision to the Petoskey Planning Commission in March, where a proposal to reverse the sign committee’s decision died by a 3-5 vote.
“We’d like to see them succeed, but we felt with the way the ordinance is written at this time, it wasn’t allowed,” planning commission chairman Gary Greenwell said.
Updates to the sign ordinance to address such situations might be a possibility, Greenwell said, but “it should be researched and something put together that covered a broader spectrum rather than just be specific to a pedicab.”
Greenwell noted that the planning commission had suggested some acceptable options for Lycka and Schemanski to generate advertising revenue — like selling ads on T-shirts, an idea which the pedicab operators did decide to use along with the rear-mounted signs.
“We were trying to give them some ideas and be flexible,” Greenwell said.
City planner Amy Tweeten is aware that the pedicabs have been displaying outside advertisements.
“As far as I’m concerned, they’re in violation,” she said. “I will be citing them.”
Sign-ordinance violations are treated as a civil infraction punishable with a fine.
Asked why the pedicab operators decided to go forward with the advertisements after they were ruled unacceptable, Lycka said: “We were putting up the sign in order to get permission for it through some sort of an appeal. We put up a sign not out of spite, but out of a positive effort to appeal the decision.”
At this point, Lycka said he and Schemanski are unsure as to whether they’d contest a ticket. Noting that the pedicab operators dont have hard feelings toward the city, he added that they might try to resolve the situation through negotiation or look for a way to operate under existing rules.
Documentary on pedicabs coming to Huntington
By Susan Finkelstein
The Cinema Arts Centre’s “Real-to-Reel” documentary film series continues Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of “The Third Wheel” and an appearance by filmmaker Brian Schoenfelder.
Northport-born filmmaker Schoenfelder’s powerful new documentary about the regulation of the Pedicab industry in New York is an exciting tale of entrepreneurship that develops into a fascinating expose of the real inner workings of city government.
In an age of green transportation, and massive gridlock on New York City streets, few ideas make as much obvious good sense as pedicabs. These modern versions of the classic Asian rickshaw offer a fast and environmentally clean way to get around the clogged streets of Manhattan.
In recent years, these human-powered vehicles have gone from being an oddity to an increasingly common sight. However, nothing is even as simple as it seems in a modern metropolis like New York. Through two of the industry's founders, George and Peter, we see how government is legislating over a small business while catering to special interests.
“The Third Wheel” is essential viewing for anyone who is interested in the environment, wants to understand the hidden processes of government, or just looking for a mesmerizing good story well told.
Admission, $9 for members and $12 for the public, includes a reception. Tickets can be purchased online, at the box office during theater hours or by calling Brown Paper Tickets toll free at 1-800-838-3006. For more information, click here.
Cinema Arts Centre is at 423 Park Avenue, Huntington. For show times in general, call 631-423-FILM (3456).
The Cinema Arts Centre’s “Real-to-Reel” documentary film series continues Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of “The Third Wheel” and an appearance by filmmaker Brian Schoenfelder.
Northport-born filmmaker Schoenfelder’s powerful new documentary about the regulation of the Pedicab industry in New York is an exciting tale of entrepreneurship that develops into a fascinating expose of the real inner workings of city government.
In an age of green transportation, and massive gridlock on New York City streets, few ideas make as much obvious good sense as pedicabs. These modern versions of the classic Asian rickshaw offer a fast and environmentally clean way to get around the clogged streets of Manhattan.
In recent years, these human-powered vehicles have gone from being an oddity to an increasingly common sight. However, nothing is even as simple as it seems in a modern metropolis like New York. Through two of the industry's founders, George and Peter, we see how government is legislating over a small business while catering to special interests.
“The Third Wheel” is essential viewing for anyone who is interested in the environment, wants to understand the hidden processes of government, or just looking for a mesmerizing good story well told.
Admission, $9 for members and $12 for the public, includes a reception. Tickets can be purchased online, at the box office during theater hours or by calling Brown Paper Tickets toll free at 1-800-838-3006. For more information, click here.
Cinema Arts Centre is at 423 Park Avenue, Huntington. For show times in general, call 631-423-FILM (3456).
Petty Rules could Slow Pedicabs
By Eric Richardson
Pedicabs could soon be coming to Downtown Los Angeles, but new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation could be so onerous and confusing as to make the service unappealing to both riders and operators. The rules govern everything from insurance requirements to the bikes that may be used and even the pants and shoes that operators may wear.
Pedicabs, or bicycle driven pedestrian taxis, are popular pieces of the transportation puzzle in cities such as San Diego and San Francisco. They act as short-range transportation for locals and a sightseeing platform for tourists.
In 2007, a pair of operators tried to start up pedicab operations that would serve Downtown. Eric Green started up Green Machine in August, but was shut down because he lacked a license to operate. Mike Echols, founder of MagiCab Express, was similarly stymied despite having worked for months to craft a proposal that would be legal under DOT pedicab rules passed in 1986.
Those rules were put in place to regulate services that had been operating in Venice and Westwood, but the report accompanying the new rules notes that "by the end of the 1980s most pedicab service within the City had been discontinued, and by 1992 the last pedicabs had ceased operation."
While the new rules purport to bring the city's pedicab regulations up to date, there are some questionable inclusions.
Pedicabs are required to have both seat belts and helmets for each passenger. The proposed rules include a $500 fine for pedicab operators found "transporting passengers without adequately secured helmets or seatbelt." That escalates to a $1000 fine for the second offense.
Some rules are confusingly vague. Similar fines exist for operating on a street with a posted speed limit above 25 miles per hour, but it is unclear how that would affect Downtown. Our streets do not have posted speed limit signs, but many have "prima facie" speed limits of 30 or 35 miles per hour.
The rules also require that drivers pick up and drop off passengers along curbs, complying with "all parking restrictions and prohibitions." It is unclear whether flexibility similar to that of the recently-passed Hail-a-Taxi program would be available to pedicab drivers.
Other rules are overly specific. A section on pedicab drivers states that "Driver must be attired in a shirt with sleeves, and a collar, pants or shorts (no sweat pants) with a belt and black shoes." The vague offense of "Failure to present a neat personal appearance" garners a $25 fine, plus immediate removal from service.
The new rules, proposed as Board Order 594, will be heard by the city's Board of Transportation Commissioners on Thursday, June 11, at 10am.
Pedicabs could soon be coming to Downtown Los Angeles, but new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation could be so onerous and confusing as to make the service unappealing to both riders and operators. The rules govern everything from insurance requirements to the bikes that may be used and even the pants and shoes that operators may wear.
Pedicabs, or bicycle driven pedestrian taxis, are popular pieces of the transportation puzzle in cities such as San Diego and San Francisco. They act as short-range transportation for locals and a sightseeing platform for tourists.
In 2007, a pair of operators tried to start up pedicab operations that would serve Downtown. Eric Green started up Green Machine in August, but was shut down because he lacked a license to operate. Mike Echols, founder of MagiCab Express, was similarly stymied despite having worked for months to craft a proposal that would be legal under DOT pedicab rules passed in 1986.
Those rules were put in place to regulate services that had been operating in Venice and Westwood, but the report accompanying the new rules notes that "by the end of the 1980s most pedicab service within the City had been discontinued, and by 1992 the last pedicabs had ceased operation."
While the new rules purport to bring the city's pedicab regulations up to date, there are some questionable inclusions.
Pedicabs are required to have both seat belts and helmets for each passenger. The proposed rules include a $500 fine for pedicab operators found "transporting passengers without adequately secured helmets or seatbelt." That escalates to a $1000 fine for the second offense.
Some rules are confusingly vague. Similar fines exist for operating on a street with a posted speed limit above 25 miles per hour, but it is unclear how that would affect Downtown. Our streets do not have posted speed limit signs, but many have "prima facie" speed limits of 30 or 35 miles per hour.
The rules also require that drivers pick up and drop off passengers along curbs, complying with "all parking restrictions and prohibitions." It is unclear whether flexibility similar to that of the recently-passed Hail-a-Taxi program would be available to pedicab drivers.
Other rules are overly specific. A section on pedicab drivers states that "Driver must be attired in a shirt with sleeves, and a collar, pants or shorts (no sweat pants) with a belt and black shoes." The vague offense of "Failure to present a neat personal appearance" garners a $25 fine, plus immediate removal from service.
The new rules, proposed as Board Order 594, will be heard by the city's Board of Transportation Commissioners on Thursday, June 11, at 10am.
Pedicab driving no easy ride
By Heather Haddon
It takes more than calf-muscles to pedal the city streets for hours a day.
Pedicab drivers need charm, hustle and a grasp on city lore to succeed in the increasingly competitive industry.
And soon, the city will likely require rickshaw businesses to take out insurance, pass inspections and beef up their safety protocol. Veteran drivers said they welcome the requirements as the number pedicabs pushes past 1,000.
“The industry is getting a bad rep,” said Julian Isaza of Revolution Rickshaws, one of the city's first pedicab companies. “We are an intimate and safe way to see the city.”
Pedicabs popped up on New York streets in the last decade. Typically, drivers rent their cabs from Manhattan companies with small fleets. Isaza said they train fledging drivers in negotiating the roads and obeying traffic regulations.
“I scare the s--- out of them,” Isaza said. “It's a reality check.”
Pedalers hunt for tourists near Central Park during the day, or scope out the Theater District and busy taxi lines in the evening.
“If you're a tourist, you want to do drink in everything,” said John Allen, 55, a rail-thin driver from Hells Kitchen. “On the subway, you miss so much.”
Some drivers look to the industry for quick cash. Others say they like freedom to be outside and boast that their trade is eco-friendly.
And then there are the showboats.
“I want them to experience things they would otherwise miss,” said Madison Reyes, 24, who sings during his tours and drives a cab lined with fake flowers.
Central Park drivers pepper their trips with local history. Tours cost about $60, but Reyes said he gets about three takers a day.
“You see everything. It's comfortable. And there's no horse smells,” said Benny Lilipaly, 39, a tourist from Amsterdam who road with Reyes.
Out on city streets, pedicabs ride in traffic looking for passengers. It's here that pedestrians and cab drivers can get irked.
“They are dangerous,” said G. Slatin, 65, a retired Manhattan resident. “They don't abide by the traffic signals. I've see them driving on sidewalks to avoid traffic.”
In one high-profile incident, a pedicab driver and one of his three passengers were injured last week after they sped down the Williamsburg Bridge and slammed into a cab on the street.
Police issue tickets to pedicabs for traffic violations, but the city doesn’t track complaints about them because the industry is not yet officially regulated, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs. That will change if the city passes a pedicab licensing law proposed last week.
Trying to break out of the street hustle, some companies now offer cargo-messaging services. Revolution Rickshaws works with City Harvest in picking up restaurant leftovers for the needy, Isaza said. Pony Cab provides rickshaws for weddings and film shoots, including a Times Square scene filmed for “Gossip Girl,” said owner Tony Rojas.
Allen said he still enjoys his job after five years on the streets.
“It's like working out at the gym, but more fun,” he said.
Pedicabs by the numbers
1,000: Estimated number of pedicabs
$4,000: Cost to buy a new pedicab
$180: Weekly rate to rent a pedicab to peddle
$1: Average cost per block for a ride for each passenger
$60: Average price for an hour tour in Central Park
Should I become a pedicab driver?
Pros:
- Able to set your own hours
- No need for the gym and lots of fresh air
- Budding tour guides can test their skills on passengers visiting the city
- Hard workers can earn $400 a day
Cons:
- Increasing competition; must develop a sales shtick
- Constant rejection from weary tourists
- Rain and calf pain are your enemies
- Manhattan biking is stressful and chaotic
It takes more than calf-muscles to pedal the city streets for hours a day.
Pedicab drivers need charm, hustle and a grasp on city lore to succeed in the increasingly competitive industry.
And soon, the city will likely require rickshaw businesses to take out insurance, pass inspections and beef up their safety protocol. Veteran drivers said they welcome the requirements as the number pedicabs pushes past 1,000.
“The industry is getting a bad rep,” said Julian Isaza of Revolution Rickshaws, one of the city's first pedicab companies. “We are an intimate and safe way to see the city.”
Pedicabs popped up on New York streets in the last decade. Typically, drivers rent their cabs from Manhattan companies with small fleets. Isaza said they train fledging drivers in negotiating the roads and obeying traffic regulations.
“I scare the s--- out of them,” Isaza said. “It's a reality check.”
Pedalers hunt for tourists near Central Park during the day, or scope out the Theater District and busy taxi lines in the evening.
“If you're a tourist, you want to do drink in everything,” said John Allen, 55, a rail-thin driver from Hells Kitchen. “On the subway, you miss so much.”
Some drivers look to the industry for quick cash. Others say they like freedom to be outside and boast that their trade is eco-friendly.
And then there are the showboats.
“I want them to experience things they would otherwise miss,” said Madison Reyes, 24, who sings during his tours and drives a cab lined with fake flowers.
Central Park drivers pepper their trips with local history. Tours cost about $60, but Reyes said he gets about three takers a day.
“You see everything. It's comfortable. And there's no horse smells,” said Benny Lilipaly, 39, a tourist from Amsterdam who road with Reyes.
Out on city streets, pedicabs ride in traffic looking for passengers. It's here that pedestrians and cab drivers can get irked.
“They are dangerous,” said G. Slatin, 65, a retired Manhattan resident. “They don't abide by the traffic signals. I've see them driving on sidewalks to avoid traffic.”
In one high-profile incident, a pedicab driver and one of his three passengers were injured last week after they sped down the Williamsburg Bridge and slammed into a cab on the street.
Police issue tickets to pedicabs for traffic violations, but the city doesn’t track complaints about them because the industry is not yet officially regulated, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs. That will change if the city passes a pedicab licensing law proposed last week.
Trying to break out of the street hustle, some companies now offer cargo-messaging services. Revolution Rickshaws works with City Harvest in picking up restaurant leftovers for the needy, Isaza said. Pony Cab provides rickshaws for weddings and film shoots, including a Times Square scene filmed for “Gossip Girl,” said owner Tony Rojas.
Allen said he still enjoys his job after five years on the streets.
“It's like working out at the gym, but more fun,” he said.
Pedicabs by the numbers
1,000: Estimated number of pedicabs
$4,000: Cost to buy a new pedicab
$180: Weekly rate to rent a pedicab to peddle
$1: Average cost per block for a ride for each passenger
$60: Average price for an hour tour in Central Park
Should I become a pedicab driver?
Pros:
- Able to set your own hours
- No need for the gym and lots of fresh air
- Budding tour guides can test their skills on passengers visiting the city
- Hard workers can earn $400 a day
Cons:
- Increasing competition; must develop a sales shtick
- Constant rejection from weary tourists
- Rain and calf pain are your enemies
- Manhattan biking is stressful and chaotic
Does LADOT Fear Pedicabs?
by Damien Newton
After a solid push from Councilwoman Jan Perry's office, the City of Los Angeles is finally debating a proposal to bring pedicabs back to the streets of Los Angeles. Pedicabs have proven wildly popular in a diverse amount of American cities, everywhere from San Diego, to New York, to Portland, to San Francisco. While the city has had pedicab rules on the books since 1986, a pair of operators tried to bring the business to L.A. in 2007 and were shutdown.
Now, the LADOT has written up a list of new rules allegedly to help bring pedicabs back, but the rule list is so onerous and at times ridiculous that one can't help but question whether they really mean it. In its first report on the rules, Blogdowntown deadpanned:
but new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation could be so onerous and confusing as to make the service unappealing to both riders and operators.
The new rules regulated everything from dress code, to routes, to helmet requirements for drivers and passengers and an onerous licensing procedure. Fortunately, the Transportation Commission, a group of transportation planners that review many LADOT reports and recommendations before they go to the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee, was as incredulous at some of these rules as Blogdowntown and other cyclists. They sent the LADOT packing until next month's meeting, hoping that they come back with a competent piece of work.
At this point, one has to wonder why anyone listens to the LADOT when it comes to bicycling laws, rules or engineering. The LADOT insisted to the Commission that state law required that bike helmets be worn by all riders, and passengers over the age of 18. When the Commissioners noticed that no such law exists, in fact I can't even find a mention of helmets for riders or passengers in San Francicso or other California cities' rules for pedicabs. And of course, the state's helmet law for those riding normal bicycles only applies to those under the age of 18. When the LADOT explained that their rules only required drivers to supply helmets, the Transportation Commission noticed the rules said the exact opposite of what the LADOT said they did.
While the Commission focused on the patently ridiculous, such as the helmet law and LADOT's Amir Sedadi's fear that Hawaiian shirts would take over the streets of Los Angeles, the LADOT's licensing program is what could provide the greatest threat to pedicabs.
Specific wording in the permitting part of the application require that during licensing, all potential operators submit routes, maps, hours of operation and other parts of their business plan for review by the LADOT in conjunction with the local council offices and the LAPD. What is of concern is that one of the things the LADOT is looking at is whether or not the proposed routes and hours will effect "traffic congestion" and "local businesses."
Since we already know that the LADOT considers single-passenger bikes as traffic impediments, this language seems to imply that they will only allow pedicabs to operate on streets that don't attract a lot of car traffic and don't have a lot of businesses. You know, just the sort of places that there won't be any traffic for pedicabs.
It's important for the Transportation Commission, and later the City Council, to deal with the LADOT's theater of the absurd; but it's more important that they go into the details of the program and make certain that this rules list for pedicabs isn't just a secret plan to make sure a program never gets started.
After a solid push from Councilwoman Jan Perry's office, the City of Los Angeles is finally debating a proposal to bring pedicabs back to the streets of Los Angeles. Pedicabs have proven wildly popular in a diverse amount of American cities, everywhere from San Diego, to New York, to Portland, to San Francisco. While the city has had pedicab rules on the books since 1986, a pair of operators tried to bring the business to L.A. in 2007 and were shutdown.
Now, the LADOT has written up a list of new rules allegedly to help bring pedicabs back, but the rule list is so onerous and at times ridiculous that one can't help but question whether they really mean it. In its first report on the rules, Blogdowntown deadpanned:
but new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation could be so onerous and confusing as to make the service unappealing to both riders and operators.
The new rules regulated everything from dress code, to routes, to helmet requirements for drivers and passengers and an onerous licensing procedure. Fortunately, the Transportation Commission, a group of transportation planners that review many LADOT reports and recommendations before they go to the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee, was as incredulous at some of these rules as Blogdowntown and other cyclists. They sent the LADOT packing until next month's meeting, hoping that they come back with a competent piece of work.
At this point, one has to wonder why anyone listens to the LADOT when it comes to bicycling laws, rules or engineering. The LADOT insisted to the Commission that state law required that bike helmets be worn by all riders, and passengers over the age of 18. When the Commissioners noticed that no such law exists, in fact I can't even find a mention of helmets for riders or passengers in San Francicso or other California cities' rules for pedicabs. And of course, the state's helmet law for those riding normal bicycles only applies to those under the age of 18. When the LADOT explained that their rules only required drivers to supply helmets, the Transportation Commission noticed the rules said the exact opposite of what the LADOT said they did.
While the Commission focused on the patently ridiculous, such as the helmet law and LADOT's Amir Sedadi's fear that Hawaiian shirts would take over the streets of Los Angeles, the LADOT's licensing program is what could provide the greatest threat to pedicabs.
Specific wording in the permitting part of the application require that during licensing, all potential operators submit routes, maps, hours of operation and other parts of their business plan for review by the LADOT in conjunction with the local council offices and the LAPD. What is of concern is that one of the things the LADOT is looking at is whether or not the proposed routes and hours will effect "traffic congestion" and "local businesses."
Since we already know that the LADOT considers single-passenger bikes as traffic impediments, this language seems to imply that they will only allow pedicabs to operate on streets that don't attract a lot of car traffic and don't have a lot of businesses. You know, just the sort of places that there won't be any traffic for pedicabs.
It's important for the Transportation Commission, and later the City Council, to deal with the LADOT's theater of the absurd; but it's more important that they go into the details of the program and make certain that this rules list for pedicabs isn't just a secret plan to make sure a program never gets started.
DOT Reverses Course on Helmet Rule for Pedicab Passengers
By Eric Richardson
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Pedicabs passengers would not be required to wear helmets under new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation. That clarification came as part of an hour-long discussion of the pedal-powered transport, and contradicted language in both DOT's proposed rules and statements earlier in the meeting.
The new rules were in front of the city's Board of Transportation Commissioners for approval, but the body instead chose to take another month on the issue to clarify language and create a document that will not discourage potential operators.
Commissioners and public speakers were supportive of the pedicab concept, and a representative from Councilwoman Janice Hahn's office shared that work is moving quickly on a plan to bring pedicab service to the San Pedro area.
Both commission members and speakers took issue with some of the specifics contained in the DOT-produced rules, with issues over helmet use and operator apparel front and center.
During their initial presentation, DOT staff told the Commission that passenger helmet use was required by California's Vehicle Code.
That did not sit well with commissioners. "Just as a practical issue, anyone who's a passenger on this pedicab is not going to want to put on a helmet," said Commissioner Angela Reddick. "I think you're going to set the people up for failure."
After staff then said that the new rules would only mandate that helmets be provided, not that they be worn, the commissioners pointed out specific language in the proposed rules that would do just that. The rules dictate a fine for "transporting passengers without properly secured helmets or seatbelt" that starts at $500 for the first offense.
Referring to another section of the rules that authorize operators to refuse service to passengers who refuse to wear a helmet, Commissioner Grace Yoo took issue with the disparity between the presentation and the written rules. "The wording here again is just not quite what you're telling me," she told staff. "It needs to be cleaner."
Commissioners also took exception to the specific language used to regulate operator attire, asking that the wording be changed to allow for wardrobe options more suited to operators pedaling a bicycle in potential hot Los Angeles weather.
The board ended up continuing the item for thirty days and appointing Yoo to work with DOT staff to produce a simpler document.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Pedicabs passengers would not be required to wear helmets under new rules proposed by the city's Department of Transportation. That clarification came as part of an hour-long discussion of the pedal-powered transport, and contradicted language in both DOT's proposed rules and statements earlier in the meeting.
The new rules were in front of the city's Board of Transportation Commissioners for approval, but the body instead chose to take another month on the issue to clarify language and create a document that will not discourage potential operators.
Commissioners and public speakers were supportive of the pedicab concept, and a representative from Councilwoman Janice Hahn's office shared that work is moving quickly on a plan to bring pedicab service to the San Pedro area.
Both commission members and speakers took issue with some of the specifics contained in the DOT-produced rules, with issues over helmet use and operator apparel front and center.
During their initial presentation, DOT staff told the Commission that passenger helmet use was required by California's Vehicle Code.
That did not sit well with commissioners. "Just as a practical issue, anyone who's a passenger on this pedicab is not going to want to put on a helmet," said Commissioner Angela Reddick. "I think you're going to set the people up for failure."
After staff then said that the new rules would only mandate that helmets be provided, not that they be worn, the commissioners pointed out specific language in the proposed rules that would do just that. The rules dictate a fine for "transporting passengers without properly secured helmets or seatbelt" that starts at $500 for the first offense.
Referring to another section of the rules that authorize operators to refuse service to passengers who refuse to wear a helmet, Commissioner Grace Yoo took issue with the disparity between the presentation and the written rules. "The wording here again is just not quite what you're telling me," she told staff. "It needs to be cleaner."
Commissioners also took exception to the specific language used to regulate operator attire, asking that the wording be changed to allow for wardrobe options more suited to operators pedaling a bicycle in potential hot Los Angeles weather.
The board ended up continuing the item for thirty days and appointing Yoo to work with DOT staff to produce a simpler document.
Human powered cabs coming to Storm Lake
Monday, June 22, 2009, 2:20 PM
by Joel Hermann, KAYL, Storm Lake
Human-powered taxi cabs may become a familiar sight around Storm Lake this summer. City development director Mike Wilson says plans are underway to begin a rickshaw or "pedicab" service, something that's well-known in certain Asian nations, but not in Iowa.
"They might not know what a pedicab is because they're pretty unique around here but it's sort of a combination between a bicycle and a rickshaw -- a bicycle front and a seat on the back," Wilson explains.
Last month, the city council in Storm Lake changed the taxi ordinance to include pedicabs and last week the council issued a license for a company called "Paradise Pedicab."
He says the company will open soon to offer the rides around the lake and trails or call them to cart you around for your daily errands. The license issued by the city is for one pedicab, but additional units are planned.
by Joel Hermann, KAYL, Storm Lake
Human-powered taxi cabs may become a familiar sight around Storm Lake this summer. City development director Mike Wilson says plans are underway to begin a rickshaw or "pedicab" service, something that's well-known in certain Asian nations, but not in Iowa.
"They might not know what a pedicab is because they're pretty unique around here but it's sort of a combination between a bicycle and a rickshaw -- a bicycle front and a seat on the back," Wilson explains.
Last month, the city council in Storm Lake changed the taxi ordinance to include pedicabs and last week the council issued a license for a company called "Paradise Pedicab."
He says the company will open soon to offer the rides around the lake and trails or call them to cart you around for your daily errands. The license issued by the city is for one pedicab, but additional units are planned.
Friday, June 12
3 HURT AS PASSENGER BIKE SLAMS TAXI
By LORENA MONGELLI, AMBER SUTHERLAND and ANDY GELLER
3 HURT AS PASSENGER BIKE SLAMS TAXI
A pedicab speeding down the bike lane of the Williamsburg Bridge crashed into a yellow cab on the Brooklyn side yesterday, seriously injuring the pedicab driver and two of his three passengers, police said.
The passengers, returning home to Bushwick after a night of partying, yelled at the driver to slow down just before he hit the taxi at 7:27 a.m. at Bedford Avenue between South Fifth and Sixth streets.
The impact knocked over the pedicab and sent driver Nicholas Nicometi and his three passengers flying.
"He was going so fast it was scary," passenger Stephanie Monfort, 22, who had bruises all over her body, said at Bellevue Hospital.
"We were telling him to 'Slow down! Slow down! Stop!' But he just kept going and turned right into upcoming traffic. He hit a cab and we all flew out. It was horrible. I'm lucky I am OK."
Nicometi, 42, hit his head on the curb and was unconscious when cops arrived. He was in serious condition at Bellevue.
Monfort's boyfriend, Jonathan Richardson, 28, suffered two broken wrists. Her friend, Jessica Mageik, was not hurt.
While city rules say pedicabs have to stick to the streets, state laws that allow them on bridges are currently in effect.
That's because the bridge rule -- and dozens of other regulations -- was not enforced while the city and the pedicab industry were involved a lengthy legal battle.
That ended in April, and the city laws will prevail.
Monfort, a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate, said she and her two friends met Nicometi, a licensed pedicab driver, in a Times Square bar and he offered to take them home.
They decided it would be cool.
They had to walk halfway across the bridge because the incline made it too hard for Nicometi to peddle.
"Then when we get in, he starts going really fast," she said.
Cops said that when the passengers started screaming to slow down, Nicometi turned to talk to them over his shoulder, blew through a stop sign and then crashed into the cab.
"He was coming at me too fast," said Rafiqul Islam, 30, the cabby. "It was his fault."
"There was yelling when they hit me," he added.
One transit-advocacy group called the crash intersection "infamous for safety concerns."
"The entrance to the bridge path at Bedford Avenue is extremely dangerous," said Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives.
3 HURT AS PASSENGER BIKE SLAMS TAXI
A pedicab speeding down the bike lane of the Williamsburg Bridge crashed into a yellow cab on the Brooklyn side yesterday, seriously injuring the pedicab driver and two of his three passengers, police said.
The passengers, returning home to Bushwick after a night of partying, yelled at the driver to slow down just before he hit the taxi at 7:27 a.m. at Bedford Avenue between South Fifth and Sixth streets.
The impact knocked over the pedicab and sent driver Nicholas Nicometi and his three passengers flying.
"He was going so fast it was scary," passenger Stephanie Monfort, 22, who had bruises all over her body, said at Bellevue Hospital.
"We were telling him to 'Slow down! Slow down! Stop!' But he just kept going and turned right into upcoming traffic. He hit a cab and we all flew out. It was horrible. I'm lucky I am OK."
Nicometi, 42, hit his head on the curb and was unconscious when cops arrived. He was in serious condition at Bellevue.
Monfort's boyfriend, Jonathan Richardson, 28, suffered two broken wrists. Her friend, Jessica Mageik, was not hurt.
While city rules say pedicabs have to stick to the streets, state laws that allow them on bridges are currently in effect.
That's because the bridge rule -- and dozens of other regulations -- was not enforced while the city and the pedicab industry were involved a lengthy legal battle.
That ended in April, and the city laws will prevail.
Monfort, a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate, said she and her two friends met Nicometi, a licensed pedicab driver, in a Times Square bar and he offered to take them home.
They decided it would be cool.
They had to walk halfway across the bridge because the incline made it too hard for Nicometi to peddle.
"Then when we get in, he starts going really fast," she said.
Cops said that when the passengers started screaming to slow down, Nicometi turned to talk to them over his shoulder, blew through a stop sign and then crashed into the cab.
"He was coming at me too fast," said Rafiqul Islam, 30, the cabby. "It was his fault."
"There was yelling when they hit me," he added.
One transit-advocacy group called the crash intersection "infamous for safety concerns."
"The entrance to the bridge path at Bedford Avenue is extremely dangerous," said Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives.
Pedicab Safety Rules Were Never Put Into Effect
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
It was a longstanding controversy over a booming city industry: should pedicabs — the pedal-powered rickshaws that delight tourists and bedevil taxis — be regulated?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Richard Perry/The New York Times
Julian Isaza works on a pedicab at a maintenance shop in Manhattan.
Related
Four Hurt When a Pedicab Slams Into a Taxi in Brooklyn (June 11, 2009)
City Room: 2 Hurt in Pedicab Crash Near Williamsburg Bridge
Readers' Comments
The City Council passed a bill in 2007, and overrode a veto of it, only to see a court challenge from pedicab owners. That delayed imposing the rules for two years. An appeal was decided in April, but by then the debate had died down and key players hardly noticed.
Now, two months after the lawsuit ended, the city acknowledges that its safety and licensing provisions are still not being enforced — a lack of oversight highlighted by an accident on Wednesday at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, where a taxi collided with a speeding pedicab. The pedicab driver was seriously injured.
Pedicab owners said that there was no excuse for the police and city to ignore the safety laws enacted by the Council. City officials said their hands have been tied.
It was not supposed to be this complicated. The law called for a licensing system that would issue permits to pedicabs and require them to display registration plates, carry insurance, and install seat belts and hydraulic brakes, among other measures.
The Department of Consumer Affairs issued rules to carry out the law in July 2007. That prompted the pedicab owners to sue, arguing that the licensing process would allow inexperienced drivers to gain permits and hurt established businesses. The rules were thrown out by a judge, and an appellate court concurred.
The next step was for the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs to create a new set of rules to issue permits.
But so far, that has not happened. And in the interim, the safety provisions — including a ban on bridge travel — are not being enforced.
“It doesn’t make any sense: if we’re arguing over who gets registration plates, that doesn’t change the law that you have to have seat belts,” said Chad Marlow, a lawyer who represents the New York City Pedicab Owners Association.
“We begged the city, for the sake of safety, to please enforce these things before someone gets hurt,” Mr. Marlow said. City officials said that the safety rules were intended to apply to licensed pedicabs; without a licensing process, they say, the rules are moot.
“Until you can figure out who can have a license, you can’t begin to enforce some or all of the regulations,” said Jonathan Mintz, the city’s commissioner of consumer affairs.
But he declined to say when the new licensing procedure would be put in place.
“This is not a question of me initialing the bottom of a piece of paper, and tomorrow everyone’s out there regulating,” Mr. Mintz said, noting that the process requires public hearings and other time-consuming steps that could take months. “We are anxious to start regulating, as we were two years ago,” he added.
Officials noted that some provisions of the law can be enforced only through formal inspections, a difficult option when the city has not issued licenses to begin with.
But what about a pedicab that carries too many passengers, or does not have any seat belts? Can a police officer flag it down?
No, according to the city’s lawyers: police officers would have to be trained about rules that may change again in a matter of months. And they say a piecemeal enforcement of the law is not an option.
In the meantime, the Police Department considers pedicabs to be bicycles, and is enforcing applicable traffic laws. “We are treating them as bicycles until the lawsuit is clarified,” said Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the Police Department. Informed that the suit was over, Mr. Browne said, “I’m not aware of that,” and referred further questions to the city’s lawyers.
And at least one other official expressed surprise on Thursday that the suit was over. “I hadn’t heard that,” said Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr., a sponsor of the original bill. “I’ve been working on the budget. I haven’t paid much attention to it at all.”
It was a longstanding controversy over a booming city industry: should pedicabs — the pedal-powered rickshaws that delight tourists and bedevil taxis — be regulated?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Richard Perry/The New York Times
Julian Isaza works on a pedicab at a maintenance shop in Manhattan.
Related
Four Hurt When a Pedicab Slams Into a Taxi in Brooklyn (June 11, 2009)
City Room: 2 Hurt in Pedicab Crash Near Williamsburg Bridge
Readers' Comments
The City Council passed a bill in 2007, and overrode a veto of it, only to see a court challenge from pedicab owners. That delayed imposing the rules for two years. An appeal was decided in April, but by then the debate had died down and key players hardly noticed.
Now, two months after the lawsuit ended, the city acknowledges that its safety and licensing provisions are still not being enforced — a lack of oversight highlighted by an accident on Wednesday at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, where a taxi collided with a speeding pedicab. The pedicab driver was seriously injured.
Pedicab owners said that there was no excuse for the police and city to ignore the safety laws enacted by the Council. City officials said their hands have been tied.
It was not supposed to be this complicated. The law called for a licensing system that would issue permits to pedicabs and require them to display registration plates, carry insurance, and install seat belts and hydraulic brakes, among other measures.
The Department of Consumer Affairs issued rules to carry out the law in July 2007. That prompted the pedicab owners to sue, arguing that the licensing process would allow inexperienced drivers to gain permits and hurt established businesses. The rules were thrown out by a judge, and an appellate court concurred.
The next step was for the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs to create a new set of rules to issue permits.
But so far, that has not happened. And in the interim, the safety provisions — including a ban on bridge travel — are not being enforced.
“It doesn’t make any sense: if we’re arguing over who gets registration plates, that doesn’t change the law that you have to have seat belts,” said Chad Marlow, a lawyer who represents the New York City Pedicab Owners Association.
“We begged the city, for the sake of safety, to please enforce these things before someone gets hurt,” Mr. Marlow said. City officials said that the safety rules were intended to apply to licensed pedicabs; without a licensing process, they say, the rules are moot.
“Until you can figure out who can have a license, you can’t begin to enforce some or all of the regulations,” said Jonathan Mintz, the city’s commissioner of consumer affairs.
But he declined to say when the new licensing procedure would be put in place.
“This is not a question of me initialing the bottom of a piece of paper, and tomorrow everyone’s out there regulating,” Mr. Mintz said, noting that the process requires public hearings and other time-consuming steps that could take months. “We are anxious to start regulating, as we were two years ago,” he added.
Officials noted that some provisions of the law can be enforced only through formal inspections, a difficult option when the city has not issued licenses to begin with.
But what about a pedicab that carries too many passengers, or does not have any seat belts? Can a police officer flag it down?
No, according to the city’s lawyers: police officers would have to be trained about rules that may change again in a matter of months. And they say a piecemeal enforcement of the law is not an option.
In the meantime, the Police Department considers pedicabs to be bicycles, and is enforcing applicable traffic laws. “We are treating them as bicycles until the lawsuit is clarified,” said Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the Police Department. Informed that the suit was over, Mr. Browne said, “I’m not aware of that,” and referred further questions to the city’s lawyers.
And at least one other official expressed surprise on Thursday that the suit was over. “I hadn’t heard that,” said Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr., a sponsor of the original bill. “I’ve been working on the budget. I haven’t paid much attention to it at all.”
Pedaling the Way to Fair Fares
PediCab is launching Milford
By DIANA PEREZ
There’s a new way to get around town in Milford that easy, fun and green -- Milford PediCab.
Joe Meade and he partner started up the service in March after seeing how popular pedicabs were in New York City.
So far, this peddling entrepreneur says he’s had a smooth ride with introducing his brand of taxi to drivers and walkers.
The newest way to travel Milford streets is Milford PediCab.
The fleet consists of four bikes and the owners are hoping to be in full swing and fully staffed by next month.
“School is out. The boaters are here and the weather is good. You’ve got a lot of events,” Meade said.
Some of the great feature of the cab, aside from a great view, is that you get to determine how much the fair is.
‘We let the passenger decide what’s fair, so you really can’t get complaints for being overcharged,” Meade said.
For now, you have to wait until you see one of these cabs to hitch a ride but they are developing a unique call system.
“We’re going to set up a bells and whistles system. We’re putting bells in some areas where our drivers can hear them,” Meade said.
By DIANA PEREZ
There’s a new way to get around town in Milford that easy, fun and green -- Milford PediCab.
Joe Meade and he partner started up the service in March after seeing how popular pedicabs were in New York City.
So far, this peddling entrepreneur says he’s had a smooth ride with introducing his brand of taxi to drivers and walkers.
The newest way to travel Milford streets is Milford PediCab.
The fleet consists of four bikes and the owners are hoping to be in full swing and fully staffed by next month.
“School is out. The boaters are here and the weather is good. You’ve got a lot of events,” Meade said.
Some of the great feature of the cab, aside from a great view, is that you get to determine how much the fair is.
‘We let the passenger decide what’s fair, so you really can’t get complaints for being overcharged,” Meade said.
For now, you have to wait until you see one of these cabs to hitch a ride but they are developing a unique call system.
“We’re going to set up a bells and whistles system. We’re putting bells in some areas where our drivers can hear them,” Meade said.
Oklahoma entrepreneurs hope to make the grade
BY JENNIFER PALMER
Between homework and lecture hall, some college students are finding the time to start their own businesses.
These entrepreneurial students are taking on the demands of owning a small business while continuing their education.
Featured Gallery
While many of her peers are spending the summer relaxing or working for someone else as an intern, film major Katie Clark, 19, is busy readying Chimaera Massage to open for business. The combination of a massage studio and art gallery is under construction at 514 N Porter Ave. in Norman, with plans to open later this month.
Building permits, construction set-backs, advertising and hiring employees is not the way most students spend their summer break. But Clark didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
"Why wait?” she said.
She said she’s scaling back her fall class load and expects to do homework between clients.
"I see it more or less as the equivalent of taking on a full-time job while attending school — potentially difficult but doable and worthwhile,” she said.
Taking a chance
College life often inspires entrepreneurs because of the need to make a few extra bucks, said Vince Orza, dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University.
Students also make better risk takers because they often don’t have obligations such as children or a mortgage, he said.
"If it does crash and burn on you, the damage doesn’t affect very many people other than you,” Orza said.
While getting his business, Brickshaw Buggy, off the ground, marketing major Rocky Chavez learned that good help is invaluable.
"(At first) I thought I was going to be able to do it all on my own. I was naive,” he said.
Chavez started the company as a sophomore, with Orza as one of his mentors.
Now in its third year, Brickshaw Buggy, a pedicab service in Bricktown, has doubled its rickshaws and grown to have a roster of up to 40 drivers.
Chavez, 25, will have to manage the company from afar this summer while he’s in Washington, D.C. on an internship for the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
He plans to finish his degree this fall and is considering graduate school. After that, who knows? "I’ve really grown into the business world,” Chavez said.
Between homework and lecture hall, some college students are finding the time to start their own businesses.
These entrepreneurial students are taking on the demands of owning a small business while continuing their education.
Featured Gallery
While many of her peers are spending the summer relaxing or working for someone else as an intern, film major Katie Clark, 19, is busy readying Chimaera Massage to open for business. The combination of a massage studio and art gallery is under construction at 514 N Porter Ave. in Norman, with plans to open later this month.
Building permits, construction set-backs, advertising and hiring employees is not the way most students spend their summer break. But Clark didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
"Why wait?” she said.
She said she’s scaling back her fall class load and expects to do homework between clients.
"I see it more or less as the equivalent of taking on a full-time job while attending school — potentially difficult but doable and worthwhile,” she said.
Taking a chance
College life often inspires entrepreneurs because of the need to make a few extra bucks, said Vince Orza, dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University.
Students also make better risk takers because they often don’t have obligations such as children or a mortgage, he said.
"If it does crash and burn on you, the damage doesn’t affect very many people other than you,” Orza said.
While getting his business, Brickshaw Buggy, off the ground, marketing major Rocky Chavez learned that good help is invaluable.
"(At first) I thought I was going to be able to do it all on my own. I was naive,” he said.
Chavez started the company as a sophomore, with Orza as one of his mentors.
Now in its third year, Brickshaw Buggy, a pedicab service in Bricktown, has doubled its rickshaws and grown to have a roster of up to 40 drivers.
Chavez, 25, will have to manage the company from afar this summer while he’s in Washington, D.C. on an internship for the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
He plans to finish his degree this fall and is considering graduate school. After that, who knows? "I’ve really grown into the business world,” Chavez said.
Sunday, June 7
‘Pedicabs’ now at The Greene
By Amelia Robinson
Now there is no need to walk around the Greene to get your shop on.
Starting today, Thursday, June 4, TrykeCabs operated by the nonprofit HK Tryke will offer rides anywhere within the 72 acre mixed-use complex, Steiner + Associates, The Greene’s developer, announced Wednesday, June 3.
images.jpg
The service will be free, but gratuity-supported so plan on chipping in.
According to its website, HK Tryke’s tricycle parks and related services “generate revenue to fund nationally accredited childcare programs and facilities to children in areas that may not have access.”
Now there is no need to walk around the Greene to get your shop on.
Starting today, Thursday, June 4, TrykeCabs operated by the nonprofit HK Tryke will offer rides anywhere within the 72 acre mixed-use complex, Steiner + Associates, The Greene’s developer, announced Wednesday, June 3.
images.jpg
The service will be free, but gratuity-supported so plan on chipping in.
According to its website, HK Tryke’s tricycle parks and related services “generate revenue to fund nationally accredited childcare programs and facilities to children in areas that may not have access.”
Wrap-around advertising on rickshaws stalls pedicab licensing
June 3, 2009
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
A demand for wrap-around advertising on rickshaws has stalled Mayor Daley's plan to license as many as 200 pedicabs in downtown Chicago.
With bicycle-powered taxis already operating around Millennium Park, Navy Pier and Wrigley Field, Daley proposed last month that the city license and regulate them to guarantee public safety.
But, the ordinance is stuck in the City Council's License Committee, despite a lengthy hearing on the issue earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Norma Reyes, commissioner of the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, explained why: Pedicab owners want to wrap their rickshaws in advertising, but the mayor's ordinance expressly forbids advertising.
"Without advertising, they said they would not be able to exist," the commissioner said.
Reyes noted that ads are prohibited on horse-drawn carriages because they're required to post fares, identification and contact information. The same would be required of pedicabs "so people know who is operating the business and how to contact them for enforcement reasons," she said.
"It's a space issue. Where is the advertising going to go and still have all the information that is required for public safety concerns?" the commissioner said.
Reyes said she plans to meet again with pedicab operators to try and find a middle ground.
But, she said, "We have serious public safety concerns. That is first and foremost for consumers to have the information they need if there is an issue with a rickshaw. For a police officer stopping them, maybe it would be easy. But what if there is a traffic situation and a driver in another vehicle wants to file a complaint?"
The mayor's ordinance would require pedicab operators to purchase liability insurance and a $400 license. Operators would have to be fingerprinted and pass both drug tests and criminal background checks. They would have to be licensed Illinois drivers, doctor-certified and at least 18 years old.
Equipment would be strictly regulated, with battery-operated headlines, tail-lights and seat belts required.
The city would not set pedicab fares, but haggling that now goes on routinely between driver and passenger would become a thing of the past. The fare schedule would have to be clearly posted. Drivers would be prohibited from charging more than that amount.
Pedicabs would be confined to city streets -- not sidewalks -- and limited to the downtown area roughly bounded by Oak Street, LaSalle, Roosevelt and Lake Michigan. To avoid rush-hour traffic conflicts, they would not be permitted on the streets before 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Passengers would be limited to three per rickshaw.
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
A demand for wrap-around advertising on rickshaws has stalled Mayor Daley's plan to license as many as 200 pedicabs in downtown Chicago.
With bicycle-powered taxis already operating around Millennium Park, Navy Pier and Wrigley Field, Daley proposed last month that the city license and regulate them to guarantee public safety.
But, the ordinance is stuck in the City Council's License Committee, despite a lengthy hearing on the issue earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Norma Reyes, commissioner of the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, explained why: Pedicab owners want to wrap their rickshaws in advertising, but the mayor's ordinance expressly forbids advertising.
"Without advertising, they said they would not be able to exist," the commissioner said.
Reyes noted that ads are prohibited on horse-drawn carriages because they're required to post fares, identification and contact information. The same would be required of pedicabs "so people know who is operating the business and how to contact them for enforcement reasons," she said.
"It's a space issue. Where is the advertising going to go and still have all the information that is required for public safety concerns?" the commissioner said.
Reyes said she plans to meet again with pedicab operators to try and find a middle ground.
But, she said, "We have serious public safety concerns. That is first and foremost for consumers to have the information they need if there is an issue with a rickshaw. For a police officer stopping them, maybe it would be easy. But what if there is a traffic situation and a driver in another vehicle wants to file a complaint?"
The mayor's ordinance would require pedicab operators to purchase liability insurance and a $400 license. Operators would have to be fingerprinted and pass both drug tests and criminal background checks. They would have to be licensed Illinois drivers, doctor-certified and at least 18 years old.
Equipment would be strictly regulated, with battery-operated headlines, tail-lights and seat belts required.
The city would not set pedicab fares, but haggling that now goes on routinely between driver and passenger would become a thing of the past. The fare schedule would have to be clearly posted. Drivers would be prohibited from charging more than that amount.
Pedicabs would be confined to city streets -- not sidewalks -- and limited to the downtown area roughly bounded by Oak Street, LaSalle, Roosevelt and Lake Michigan. To avoid rush-hour traffic conflicts, they would not be permitted on the streets before 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Passengers would be limited to three per rickshaw.
Peddling Pedals for Profit: Despite the Recession, Pedicab Companies Thrive
By Kris Coronado
JAMES RICE IS EASY TO SPOT as he maneuvers his bike along the National Mall. It's not his oversize aviator sunglasses, navy mesh Adidas shorts, mismatched green and blue socks, or even the pale yellow "Air Force Dad" T-shirt that does it, though. It's the two-seater cart the 26-year-old is tugging along behind him.
"It's a lot like fishing," he explains over his shoulder to the two passengers he's pedaling in his Capitol Pedicab along Seventh Street. "You want to go where the most fish are."
On this sunny Tuesday afternoon, that's easily the National Museum of Natural History. As Rice cruises by a dozen tour buses crammed along the Constitution Avenue curb, he passes three pedicab peers who smile and wave. A look at the varying logos on the drivers' carts — Capitol Pedicabs, D.C. Pedicab and National Pedicabs — prove there are like-minded entrepreneurs at work here.
The District is in the midst of a rickshaw renaissance. The last two years have seen a steady rise in those willing to ferry folks around on the oversize two-seater carts.
"There's more of a market for it now," explains Steven Balinsky, a 23-year-old co-owner of Capitol Pedicabs (Capitolpedicabs.com).
"Everybody is a lot more environmentally conscious than they were five years ago. I would hope that if someone saw a pedicab and a taxi, they would make the choice to ride in a pedicab."
Surprisingly, the timing couldn't be better. The increasingly eco-conscious culture dovetails with the District's rise of a more bicycle-friendly atmosphere — from the launch of last year's SmartBike bike-sharing program to a mayor who rides regularly with a local cycling team.
Ben Morris, president of Boston-based National Pedicabs (Nationalpedicabs.com), was quick to take notice. The 27-year-old entered the D.C. market last summer and has expanded his D.C. fleet to 40, all the while continuing to spread his rickshaw reach to locales such as Newport, R.I. and Shreveport, La. That's pretty impressive, considering he started the company on a whim while he finished his senior year at Northeastern University. "I didn't even know how to change a flat tire on a bike, which is quite embarrassing," he admits. "I do now!"
Five years later, things have gotten into gear quickly. Morris readily recalls begging friends and roommates for their leg power. Now, he's overwhelmed with options. "On any given week, we have 20 to 30 people who apply to be a pedicab driver," he says. "It's pretty unbelievable, considering I couldn't keep five guys out riding when we first started."
And with great demand comes great variety. It turns out pedal people are an Americana cultural mishmash. Of course, students and young working professionals do it as a part-time gig, but there are also teachers on summer break, as well as actors and musicians who take it up between creative projects. "It would make a great reality TV show," Morris jokes.
For Rice, it's a great four-day-a-week gig that he'll continue until he heads to law school in the fall. "It's the easiest job if you can do it physically," he says. Once he's paid Balinsky a flat fee — $25 to 40 a day or $400 monthly — Rice can pocket the rest. Since he charges $5 a head for a run from the National Museum of Natural History to the Washington Monument, it's easy to pull in $150 a day. "I know if I quote low, I'll make it up in tips," he says.
For those running the companies, however, things can be slightly more complicated.
"It's an extremely difficult business to make profitable," Morris says. "A lot of people get into it and think, 'It's great. I'll buy a few bikes.' They don't realize all of the work you have to put into it." There's the cost of maintaining and storing the bikes, and at about $1,500 annually to insure each cab, the price tag adds up.
Getting insurance almost threw a wrench in John Patterson's plans to launch his Alexandria-based nonprofit, viaVelo (www.viaveloservice.org). "That was one of our hurdles to get across," he admits.
Fortunately, he got it last month for his first-of-its-kind venture with the Boys & Girls Club. Like Balinsky's and Morris' companies, viaVelo offers pedicab rides, but the drivers are teens from the local youth program (ages 18 and up). The hard-shell rickshaws also double as a delivery service, he says, with viaVelo already huff-and-puffing fresh veggies to local doorsteps for nearby farm co-ops.
"Washington is quite supportive," says Patterson. "So far, when we've been riding around it's a novelty. People are smiling and honking because it's, like, 'Oh, isn't that cute?'"
Cute, yes. In the future, it could even be common. Better yet, when the next Metro-clogging, can't-find-a-taxicab-anywhere Washington event arrives, a pedicab commute may just become crucially convenient.
"Somebody reserved a ride for 3-o-clock in the morning from their hotel to the National Mall — because they wanted to get a seat at the inauguration," Balinsky recalls. "If the opportunity is there, we'll do it."
Just don't expect to get there in a hurry, Rice says. Considering his cart is 175 pounds when empty, "it's hard to get above 7 mph."
JAMES RICE IS EASY TO SPOT as he maneuvers his bike along the National Mall. It's not his oversize aviator sunglasses, navy mesh Adidas shorts, mismatched green and blue socks, or even the pale yellow "Air Force Dad" T-shirt that does it, though. It's the two-seater cart the 26-year-old is tugging along behind him.
"It's a lot like fishing," he explains over his shoulder to the two passengers he's pedaling in his Capitol Pedicab along Seventh Street. "You want to go where the most fish are."
On this sunny Tuesday afternoon, that's easily the National Museum of Natural History. As Rice cruises by a dozen tour buses crammed along the Constitution Avenue curb, he passes three pedicab peers who smile and wave. A look at the varying logos on the drivers' carts — Capitol Pedicabs, D.C. Pedicab and National Pedicabs — prove there are like-minded entrepreneurs at work here.
The District is in the midst of a rickshaw renaissance. The last two years have seen a steady rise in those willing to ferry folks around on the oversize two-seater carts.
"There's more of a market for it now," explains Steven Balinsky, a 23-year-old co-owner of Capitol Pedicabs (Capitolpedicabs.com).
"Everybody is a lot more environmentally conscious than they were five years ago. I would hope that if someone saw a pedicab and a taxi, they would make the choice to ride in a pedicab."
Surprisingly, the timing couldn't be better. The increasingly eco-conscious culture dovetails with the District's rise of a more bicycle-friendly atmosphere — from the launch of last year's SmartBike bike-sharing program to a mayor who rides regularly with a local cycling team.
Ben Morris, president of Boston-based National Pedicabs (Nationalpedicabs.com), was quick to take notice. The 27-year-old entered the D.C. market last summer and has expanded his D.C. fleet to 40, all the while continuing to spread his rickshaw reach to locales such as Newport, R.I. and Shreveport, La. That's pretty impressive, considering he started the company on a whim while he finished his senior year at Northeastern University. "I didn't even know how to change a flat tire on a bike, which is quite embarrassing," he admits. "I do now!"
Five years later, things have gotten into gear quickly. Morris readily recalls begging friends and roommates for their leg power. Now, he's overwhelmed with options. "On any given week, we have 20 to 30 people who apply to be a pedicab driver," he says. "It's pretty unbelievable, considering I couldn't keep five guys out riding when we first started."
And with great demand comes great variety. It turns out pedal people are an Americana cultural mishmash. Of course, students and young working professionals do it as a part-time gig, but there are also teachers on summer break, as well as actors and musicians who take it up between creative projects. "It would make a great reality TV show," Morris jokes.
For Rice, it's a great four-day-a-week gig that he'll continue until he heads to law school in the fall. "It's the easiest job if you can do it physically," he says. Once he's paid Balinsky a flat fee — $25 to 40 a day or $400 monthly — Rice can pocket the rest. Since he charges $5 a head for a run from the National Museum of Natural History to the Washington Monument, it's easy to pull in $150 a day. "I know if I quote low, I'll make it up in tips," he says.
For those running the companies, however, things can be slightly more complicated.
"It's an extremely difficult business to make profitable," Morris says. "A lot of people get into it and think, 'It's great. I'll buy a few bikes.' They don't realize all of the work you have to put into it." There's the cost of maintaining and storing the bikes, and at about $1,500 annually to insure each cab, the price tag adds up.
Getting insurance almost threw a wrench in John Patterson's plans to launch his Alexandria-based nonprofit, viaVelo (www.viaveloservice.org). "That was one of our hurdles to get across," he admits.
Fortunately, he got it last month for his first-of-its-kind venture with the Boys & Girls Club. Like Balinsky's and Morris' companies, viaVelo offers pedicab rides, but the drivers are teens from the local youth program (ages 18 and up). The hard-shell rickshaws also double as a delivery service, he says, with viaVelo already huff-and-puffing fresh veggies to local doorsteps for nearby farm co-ops.
"Washington is quite supportive," says Patterson. "So far, when we've been riding around it's a novelty. People are smiling and honking because it's, like, 'Oh, isn't that cute?'"
Cute, yes. In the future, it could even be common. Better yet, when the next Metro-clogging, can't-find-a-taxicab-anywhere Washington event arrives, a pedicab commute may just become crucially convenient.
"Somebody reserved a ride for 3-o-clock in the morning from their hotel to the National Mall — because they wanted to get a seat at the inauguration," Balinsky recalls. "If the opportunity is there, we'll do it."
Just don't expect to get there in a hurry, Rice says. Considering his cart is 175 pounds when empty, "it's hard to get above 7 mph."
Pedicabs Revisited
by John Kennedy
I’m sure many of you have seen the front of the well respected “TAXI” newspaper and were probably jumping for joy thinking that at long last transport for London have seen sense and decided to remove pedicabs/rickshaws from the public highway.
Well sorry to spoil the party but I’m afraid this is old news for at the recent hearings (March 2009) of the opposed bill committee of the house of Lords it was public knowledge that transport for London were scrapping the idea of a licensing regime hence the change to the bill which seeks to introduce a “voluntary registration scheme”. Yes a VOLUNTARY registration scheme that will give the pedicab/rickshaw operator/rider an air of respectability. Couple this with the Westminster City Council pedicab ranks (up to 30 bays) sorry “pedicab waiting areas” and hey presto we shall have a worst case scenario for the working taxi-cab driver.
A pedicab/rickshaw industry with ranks, some with registration plates the majority not, members of the public duped into believing that these objects are in fact regulated/licensed because some will have registration plates. Chaos is about to reign even further on the streets and roads of the capital and people who state they represent you think it is a good idea to allow a bill through parliament that will become a “stepping stone to licensing”. To make matters worse still nobody at transport for London nor the dep’t of transport is prepared to take a pedicab/rickshaw and crash test one to see if it is suitable for the carrying of fare paying passengers, nobody is even the slightest concerned with regards to the use of these objects by people with disabilities, nobody was prepared to inform the opposed bill committee of the serious sexual assault/rape back in 2004. It seems our whole system of governance is prepared to turn a blind eye to the unsuitability of these objects to be allowed to carry fare paying passengers on the public highway.
Presently pedicabs/rickshaws can be ticketed under section 54 of the 1839 Metropolitan Police Act where it is an offence to have a stage carriage being “drawn or driven upon any footway or kerbstone”. So if the Metropolitan Police wish to move or at the very least ticket these objects powers exist that allow them to clear the exits of theatres and pavements of these death traps. I am led to believe that recently some Police Community Support Officers have been doing just that and ticketing the riders that happen to block the bus lane but more importantly the footway/kerbstone outside Hamleys on Regent Street.
Now I read the article in “TAXI” newspaper and was interested to read in the final paragraph and I quote “A Bill is currently progressing through parliament which, if successful, will allow local authorities to issue tickets to pedicabs, licensed or unlicensed which cause obstruction. The pedicab industry is fighting desperately to prevent the Bill from progressing and they are considering a ‘pedal in’ to defend their ‘human right’ to block the streets”. So it seems we should sit back and allow the passage of this bill and subsequent formation of pedicab ranks in the West End and possibly other borough’s, then hope when HM Government get around to it they decide to listen to the LTDA and then ban pedicabs from their newly granted ranks with their VOLUNTARY registration plates. Sorry Bob I’ve read the opposed bill committee record and it seems Westminster City Council wish to work with the pedicab industry and see this VOLUNTARY scheme as a stepping stone to a licensing regime. The point you raise about ticketing also needs clarifying because it seems only those who “register” for the VOLUNTARY scheme will be liable for fixed penalty notices and we shall have to rely on the Metropolitan Police yet again to do what they could do NOW if they had the will or the wish to ticket those that obstruct the pavements.
I like many other taxi-cab drivers have decided to petition against the London Local Authorities and Transport for London (no.2) Bill if it manages to proceed to the House of Commons after a third reading in the House of Lords. Many taxi-cab drivers are seeking support of trade bodies like the LCDC and the newly formed but rapidly growing RMT London taxi branch and will be urging them to petition against this bill. For instead of making it easier for a ban to come in to affect this bill will certainly become a “stepping stone” to further chaos upon the streets and roads of the capital.
Pedicabs/rickshaws are not a safe secure method and mode of transport in a modern first world city like London, they offer no protection from impact and for this reason alone they should be confined to the Parks of the capital where the chance of impact and serious injury is dramatically reduced. The 3rd Way is the only Way and with your help, support and assistance we at www.ltcpr.blogspot.com can start a campaign to do just that and place the pedicabs in the parks where they belong.
John Kennedy, founder of London taxi cab public relations.
photo credit: Thomas the Taxi LTCPR
I’m sure many of you have seen the front of the well respected “TAXI” newspaper and were probably jumping for joy thinking that at long last transport for London have seen sense and decided to remove pedicabs/rickshaws from the public highway.
Well sorry to spoil the party but I’m afraid this is old news for at the recent hearings (March 2009) of the opposed bill committee of the house of Lords it was public knowledge that transport for London were scrapping the idea of a licensing regime hence the change to the bill which seeks to introduce a “voluntary registration scheme”. Yes a VOLUNTARY registration scheme that will give the pedicab/rickshaw operator/rider an air of respectability. Couple this with the Westminster City Council pedicab ranks (up to 30 bays) sorry “pedicab waiting areas” and hey presto we shall have a worst case scenario for the working taxi-cab driver.
A pedicab/rickshaw industry with ranks, some with registration plates the majority not, members of the public duped into believing that these objects are in fact regulated/licensed because some will have registration plates. Chaos is about to reign even further on the streets and roads of the capital and people who state they represent you think it is a good idea to allow a bill through parliament that will become a “stepping stone to licensing”. To make matters worse still nobody at transport for London nor the dep’t of transport is prepared to take a pedicab/rickshaw and crash test one to see if it is suitable for the carrying of fare paying passengers, nobody is even the slightest concerned with regards to the use of these objects by people with disabilities, nobody was prepared to inform the opposed bill committee of the serious sexual assault/rape back in 2004. It seems our whole system of governance is prepared to turn a blind eye to the unsuitability of these objects to be allowed to carry fare paying passengers on the public highway.
Presently pedicabs/rickshaws can be ticketed under section 54 of the 1839 Metropolitan Police Act where it is an offence to have a stage carriage being “drawn or driven upon any footway or kerbstone”. So if the Metropolitan Police wish to move or at the very least ticket these objects powers exist that allow them to clear the exits of theatres and pavements of these death traps. I am led to believe that recently some Police Community Support Officers have been doing just that and ticketing the riders that happen to block the bus lane but more importantly the footway/kerbstone outside Hamleys on Regent Street.
Now I read the article in “TAXI” newspaper and was interested to read in the final paragraph and I quote “A Bill is currently progressing through parliament which, if successful, will allow local authorities to issue tickets to pedicabs, licensed or unlicensed which cause obstruction. The pedicab industry is fighting desperately to prevent the Bill from progressing and they are considering a ‘pedal in’ to defend their ‘human right’ to block the streets”. So it seems we should sit back and allow the passage of this bill and subsequent formation of pedicab ranks in the West End and possibly other borough’s, then hope when HM Government get around to it they decide to listen to the LTDA and then ban pedicabs from their newly granted ranks with their VOLUNTARY registration plates. Sorry Bob I’ve read the opposed bill committee record and it seems Westminster City Council wish to work with the pedicab industry and see this VOLUNTARY scheme as a stepping stone to a licensing regime. The point you raise about ticketing also needs clarifying because it seems only those who “register” for the VOLUNTARY scheme will be liable for fixed penalty notices and we shall have to rely on the Metropolitan Police yet again to do what they could do NOW if they had the will or the wish to ticket those that obstruct the pavements.
I like many other taxi-cab drivers have decided to petition against the London Local Authorities and Transport for London (no.2) Bill if it manages to proceed to the House of Commons after a third reading in the House of Lords. Many taxi-cab drivers are seeking support of trade bodies like the LCDC and the newly formed but rapidly growing RMT London taxi branch and will be urging them to petition against this bill. For instead of making it easier for a ban to come in to affect this bill will certainly become a “stepping stone” to further chaos upon the streets and roads of the capital.
Pedicabs/rickshaws are not a safe secure method and mode of transport in a modern first world city like London, they offer no protection from impact and for this reason alone they should be confined to the Parks of the capital where the chance of impact and serious injury is dramatically reduced. The 3rd Way is the only Way and with your help, support and assistance we at www.ltcpr.blogspot.com can start a campaign to do just that and place the pedicabs in the parks where they belong.
John Kennedy, founder of London taxi cab public relations.
photo credit: Thomas the Taxi LTCPR
From Londonist
Way back when, we reported on the street rivalry betwixt sensible, licensed and regulated black cab drivers and the burgeoning maverick pedicab fleet that is so bemusingly appealing to tourists. At the time, the taxi trade was trying to get the ricketty rider powered rickshaws outlawed. Instead, then Mayor Ken Livingstone got a consultation going on licensing them. News today is that our current Mayor Boris is shuffling this one under the carpet amidst fears that passenger claims for injuries arising from licensed pedicab accidents would drain City Hall resources and swallow tax payers' money. Implicit in this is the fear that folks are regularly imperilled from riding in these modern day deathtraps "stagecoaches". Tell us, have you been in one? Near death experiences and environmentally friendly ripostes in the comments please. Interestingly, the PCO has now moved on to consulting on whether motorcycles should be licenced to carry passengers.
Way back when, we reported on the street rivalry betwixt sensible, licensed and regulated black cab drivers and the burgeoning maverick pedicab fleet that is so bemusingly appealing to tourists. At the time, the taxi trade was trying to get the ricketty rider powered rickshaws outlawed. Instead, then Mayor Ken Livingstone got a consultation going on licensing them. News today is that our current Mayor Boris is shuffling this one under the carpet amidst fears that passenger claims for injuries arising from licensed pedicab accidents would drain City Hall resources and swallow tax payers' money. Implicit in this is the fear that folks are regularly imperilled from riding in these modern day deathtraps "stagecoaches". Tell us, have you been in one? Near death experiences and environmentally friendly ripostes in the comments please. Interestingly, the PCO has now moved on to consulting on whether motorcycles should be licenced to carry passengers.
Monday, June 1
Pedicab fall nets $1M
By ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
A Key West pedicab company will not get a chance to plead its case again after a jury awarded nearly $1 million to a 52-year-old St. Petersburg woman who claimed a spill from a trike left her with brain injuries.
Perfect Pedicab Inc.'s motion for a new trial was denied by a Monroe County circuit court judge.
Now the company must pay Phyllis Smith $927,924 the jury awarded her in October, about $200,000 of which was for her pain and suffering.
Smith claims she scraped her head on the concrete, leaving her with headaches, trouble sleeping and a litany of other mental health issues that have forced her to withdraw from her normal routine, court records say.
"I can't explain what was in the minds of the jurors," said the company's attorney, Christopher Fertig. "It was the position of my client that [Smith] was not as injured as she claimed and did not suffer any permanent injury from the fall. It was not a complex case."
The crash occurred on March 22, 2004, when Smith was in town for a wedding. She and other guests were taking two pedicabs from their hotel to a rehearsal dinner when the drivers began to race. Fertig blamed Smith for egging them on, telling them they wouldn't get paid if they didn't oblige.
They collided and overturned, but Fertig said Smith sustained only minor injuries and presented evidence to suggest she displayed similar symptoms of mental injury before the wreck, records say.
"A surveillance film from a nearby business that captured the accident was presented to jurors," Fertig said. "In that footage she appears to be acting normally, but the jury felt otherwise."
Fertig's motion for a new trial also complained that one of the plaintiff's witnesses, a doctor, acted inappropriately on the stand when he used an encapsulated plastic brain for a demonstration and "caused the brain to suddenly leak and seep a red, viscous material reflecting a bleeding or hemorrhaging brain," court records say.
Though the company has insurance to cover the settlement, Fertig said, he argued that it should not be responsible, as the drivers were independent contractors not under the control of Perfect Pedicab Inc.
Circuit Judge David Audlin denied the motion on April 18.
Smith could not be reached for comment and a receptionist for her attorney, Aubrey O'Dicus Jr., said he had no comment after he declined to return repeated phone calls to his St. Petersburg office.
alinhardt@keysnews.com
A Key West pedicab company will not get a chance to plead its case again after a jury awarded nearly $1 million to a 52-year-old St. Petersburg woman who claimed a spill from a trike left her with brain injuries.
Perfect Pedicab Inc.'s motion for a new trial was denied by a Monroe County circuit court judge.
Now the company must pay Phyllis Smith $927,924 the jury awarded her in October, about $200,000 of which was for her pain and suffering.
Smith claims she scraped her head on the concrete, leaving her with headaches, trouble sleeping and a litany of other mental health issues that have forced her to withdraw from her normal routine, court records say.
"I can't explain what was in the minds of the jurors," said the company's attorney, Christopher Fertig. "It was the position of my client that [Smith] was not as injured as she claimed and did not suffer any permanent injury from the fall. It was not a complex case."
The crash occurred on March 22, 2004, when Smith was in town for a wedding. She and other guests were taking two pedicabs from their hotel to a rehearsal dinner when the drivers began to race. Fertig blamed Smith for egging them on, telling them they wouldn't get paid if they didn't oblige.
They collided and overturned, but Fertig said Smith sustained only minor injuries and presented evidence to suggest she displayed similar symptoms of mental injury before the wreck, records say.
"A surveillance film from a nearby business that captured the accident was presented to jurors," Fertig said. "In that footage she appears to be acting normally, but the jury felt otherwise."
Fertig's motion for a new trial also complained that one of the plaintiff's witnesses, a doctor, acted inappropriately on the stand when he used an encapsulated plastic brain for a demonstration and "caused the brain to suddenly leak and seep a red, viscous material reflecting a bleeding or hemorrhaging brain," court records say.
Though the company has insurance to cover the settlement, Fertig said, he argued that it should not be responsible, as the drivers were independent contractors not under the control of Perfect Pedicab Inc.
Circuit Judge David Audlin denied the motion on April 18.
Smith could not be reached for comment and a receptionist for her attorney, Aubrey O'Dicus Jr., said he had no comment after he declined to return repeated phone calls to his St. Petersburg office.
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Your client riding about in a pedicab
No longer just novelty vehicles seen at the beach
By Kevin Downey
Jun 1, 2009
One of the appeals of out-of-home advertising generally, as opposed to what takes place in the living room, is that it connects with consumers when they're already out, whether it's a McDonald's billboard pointing to a restaurant a mile down the road or an ad for shampoo on a parking bumper in front of a convenience store.
The consumer is that much closer to an impulse purchase.
And in that regard, among the most effective forms of outdoor advertising is on pedicabs, bikes that tow around passengers that are increasing seen near concerts and ballgames, as well as on resort boardwalks and at events like Fashion Week in New York, when crowds of fashionistas descend on the city to see the latest work of top designers and take in New York's sights.
Pedicab are in effect mobile billboards, often promoting local restaurants and entertainment, and what makes them so effective is that they seek out the crowds, rather waiting to be seen. They go where the people are.
To get your client’s message on pedicabs, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Ads on pedicabs, which are bicycles with seating behind for passengers.
How it works
Though there are pedicab operators with fleets in cities around the country, enabling advertisers to reach dozens of markets with one buy, most are mom-and-pop businesses with fewer than a dozen vehicles serving just one market. Media buyers need to check what's available in the markets they need to reach.
For this article, Media Life looked at Easy Living Pedicabs of Decatur, Ga., GoPedicab from GoGorilla Media, and Main Street Pedicabs.
The pedicabs transport people to and from events, often for free.
The pedicabs are covered in ads, including on the back panel of the pedicab or wrapped around the cab. Some pedicabs have canopies that can be used for advertising and some haul around billboard-type signs.
In some cases, the driver sports a T-shirts also covered in ads, and drivers can also serve as pitchmen for the advertisers.
That's particularly effective when the advertiser is a local restaurant, and the passengers are in from out of town and are looking for a place to eat or enjoy a cocktail.
Typically, advertisers pay a flat rate per pedicab for a certain period of time, whether for a week or a full year. Tailored campaigns, such as transporting conventioneers to a convention center, are sometimes priced by the hour.
Markets
Pedicabs over the past two decades have popped up in just about every city where locals and tourists gather in numbers.
Numbers
Media buyers shouldn’t expect to hear concrete figures for audience exposure when speaking with pedicab operators. So much depends on the event and the number of cabs that are used.
How it is measured
Pedicab campaigns aren’t measured. Most media buys are made simply because pedicabs can get an advertiser’s message close to targeted consumers, whether it's women attending a fashion event or men coming out of a Denver Broncos game.
What product categories do well
Pedicab ads are about as localized as advertising gets, with restaurants, nightclubs and coffee shops the most frequent advertisers. But national beer and soft drink brands and retailers also use pedicabs.
Demographics
The profile of consumers exposed to ads reflects the venue and event the pedicab is sent to.
Making the buy
Easy Living Pedicabs in Decatur, Ga., covers its pedicabs with ads, including the option to have the driver tout a specific advertiser, for a few hundred dollars per event.
GoPedicab from GoGorilla Media tailors its campaigns to the needs of specific advertisers, such as Starbucks, with GoPedicab drivers in Los Angeles taking passengers to Starbucks stores. Pricing depends on the campaign.
Main Street Pedicabs has hundreds of pedicabs in dozens of cities around the country, including in Denver and New York City. Typically, most media buys are booked for a month for a few hundred dollars per pedicab.
Who’s already using pedicabs
A slew of advertisers have advertised on pedicabs, including national brands like Coors, Nike and Kate Spade. But the most frequent advertisers are local restaurants and bars.
What they’re saying
“The drivers are riding the pedicabs to make money, so they will always position themselves where people are. It’s like a billboard with a homing device that’s always seeking out people.”-- Steve Meyer, founder of Main Street Pedicabs.
By Kevin Downey
Jun 1, 2009
One of the appeals of out-of-home advertising generally, as opposed to what takes place in the living room, is that it connects with consumers when they're already out, whether it's a McDonald's billboard pointing to a restaurant a mile down the road or an ad for shampoo on a parking bumper in front of a convenience store.
The consumer is that much closer to an impulse purchase.
And in that regard, among the most effective forms of outdoor advertising is on pedicabs, bikes that tow around passengers that are increasing seen near concerts and ballgames, as well as on resort boardwalks and at events like Fashion Week in New York, when crowds of fashionistas descend on the city to see the latest work of top designers and take in New York's sights.
Pedicab are in effect mobile billboards, often promoting local restaurants and entertainment, and what makes them so effective is that they seek out the crowds, rather waiting to be seen. They go where the people are.
To get your client’s message on pedicabs, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Ads on pedicabs, which are bicycles with seating behind for passengers.
How it works
Though there are pedicab operators with fleets in cities around the country, enabling advertisers to reach dozens of markets with one buy, most are mom-and-pop businesses with fewer than a dozen vehicles serving just one market. Media buyers need to check what's available in the markets they need to reach.
For this article, Media Life looked at Easy Living Pedicabs of Decatur, Ga., GoPedicab from GoGorilla Media, and Main Street Pedicabs.
The pedicabs transport people to and from events, often for free.
The pedicabs are covered in ads, including on the back panel of the pedicab or wrapped around the cab. Some pedicabs have canopies that can be used for advertising and some haul around billboard-type signs.
In some cases, the driver sports a T-shirts also covered in ads, and drivers can also serve as pitchmen for the advertisers.
That's particularly effective when the advertiser is a local restaurant, and the passengers are in from out of town and are looking for a place to eat or enjoy a cocktail.
Typically, advertisers pay a flat rate per pedicab for a certain period of time, whether for a week or a full year. Tailored campaigns, such as transporting conventioneers to a convention center, are sometimes priced by the hour.
Markets
Pedicabs over the past two decades have popped up in just about every city where locals and tourists gather in numbers.
Numbers
Media buyers shouldn’t expect to hear concrete figures for audience exposure when speaking with pedicab operators. So much depends on the event and the number of cabs that are used.
How it is measured
Pedicab campaigns aren’t measured. Most media buys are made simply because pedicabs can get an advertiser’s message close to targeted consumers, whether it's women attending a fashion event or men coming out of a Denver Broncos game.
What product categories do well
Pedicab ads are about as localized as advertising gets, with restaurants, nightclubs and coffee shops the most frequent advertisers. But national beer and soft drink brands and retailers also use pedicabs.
Demographics
The profile of consumers exposed to ads reflects the venue and event the pedicab is sent to.
Making the buy
Easy Living Pedicabs in Decatur, Ga., covers its pedicabs with ads, including the option to have the driver tout a specific advertiser, for a few hundred dollars per event.
GoPedicab from GoGorilla Media tailors its campaigns to the needs of specific advertisers, such as Starbucks, with GoPedicab drivers in Los Angeles taking passengers to Starbucks stores. Pricing depends on the campaign.
Main Street Pedicabs has hundreds of pedicabs in dozens of cities around the country, including in Denver and New York City. Typically, most media buys are booked for a month for a few hundred dollars per pedicab.
Who’s already using pedicabs
A slew of advertisers have advertised on pedicabs, including national brands like Coors, Nike and Kate Spade. But the most frequent advertisers are local restaurants and bars.
What they’re saying
“The drivers are riding the pedicabs to make money, so they will always position themselves where people are. It’s like a billboard with a homing device that’s always seeking out people.”-- Steve Meyer, founder of Main Street Pedicabs.
New pedicab service offers Folly Beach a lift
By Allyson Bird (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Monday, June 1, 2009
As if the refurbished, South Beach-inspired Holiday Inn and the glut of new restaurants didn't establish Folly Beach as a growing tourist destination, try this: Now the Edge of America experience includes rickshaws.
One downtown-based bicycle taxi, Charleston Pedicab, launched Folly Beach Pedicab over Memorial Day weekend. The service runs seven days a week from 10 a.m. until after the bars close, according to owner Joel Carl.
"It's become a whole little community out there," Carl said. "You can have everything you need without leaving the island."
The business, now four bikes, will soon grow to five. Carl said the drivers cart around a variety of customers: Center Street revelers who need a ride back to their rental homes, vacationing families who want a sunset cruise and locals looking for a lift. Plus, plenty of patrons just want a ride to Bert's Market to fill their coolers.
Carl said he hopes people will call ahead in the same fashion they might reserve a taxi.
"We're trying to build a reliable transportation system out there," he added.
A write big crowd
Given how much ink travel scribes spill over Charleston, it's no surprise this year's Atlantic-Caribbean Society of American Travel Writers conference attracted double the number of attendees.
Last year's event was held in Little Rock, Ark. This year's June 7-10 conference headquarters is the Mills House Hotel.
Last year 52 writers and destination representatives showed up, according to the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. This year, despite the recession, 104 have registered, marking the highest number of attendees in conference history.
The CVB plans to indulge the group with sample dining at local restaurants and late-night sessions at popular pubs. The schedule also builds in time for historic tours.
The event closes with cocktails in Middleton Place's historic stable yard and dinner at the plantation's pavilion.
Raising rates
Though still not great, the hotel occupancy numbers are getting better.
April's rate averaged more than 77 percent, or 7 percent less than April 2008, according to a study by the College of Charleston's Office of Tourism Analysis. March came in 9 percent lower the previous year.
April's average daily rate reached nearly $128, up about $9 from March but still nearly 10 percent less than in April 2008. The study pointed out that both occupancy and average daily rate continue to steadily rise as the year continues.
Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.
By Allyson Bird (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Monday, June 1, 2009
As if the refurbished, South Beach-inspired Holiday Inn and the glut of new restaurants didn't establish Folly Beach as a growing tourist destination, try this: Now the Edge of America experience includes rickshaws.
One downtown-based bicycle taxi, Charleston Pedicab, launched Folly Beach Pedicab over Memorial Day weekend. The service runs seven days a week from 10 a.m. until after the bars close, according to owner Joel Carl.
"It's become a whole little community out there," Carl said. "You can have everything you need without leaving the island."
The business, now four bikes, will soon grow to five. Carl said the drivers cart around a variety of customers: Center Street revelers who need a ride back to their rental homes, vacationing families who want a sunset cruise and locals looking for a lift. Plus, plenty of patrons just want a ride to Bert's Market to fill their coolers.
Carl said he hopes people will call ahead in the same fashion they might reserve a taxi.
"We're trying to build a reliable transportation system out there," he added.
A write big crowd
Given how much ink travel scribes spill over Charleston, it's no surprise this year's Atlantic-Caribbean Society of American Travel Writers conference attracted double the number of attendees.
Last year's event was held in Little Rock, Ark. This year's June 7-10 conference headquarters is the Mills House Hotel.
Last year 52 writers and destination representatives showed up, according to the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. This year, despite the recession, 104 have registered, marking the highest number of attendees in conference history.
The CVB plans to indulge the group with sample dining at local restaurants and late-night sessions at popular pubs. The schedule also builds in time for historic tours.
The event closes with cocktails in Middleton Place's historic stable yard and dinner at the plantation's pavilion.
Raising rates
Though still not great, the hotel occupancy numbers are getting better.
April's rate averaged more than 77 percent, or 7 percent less than April 2008, according to a study by the College of Charleston's Office of Tourism Analysis. March came in 9 percent lower the previous year.
April's average daily rate reached nearly $128, up about $9 from March but still nearly 10 percent less than in April 2008. The study pointed out that both occupancy and average daily rate continue to steadily rise as the year continues.
Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.
Pedicab company expands to Martha's Vineyard
By Katie Curley
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — The preferred mode of summertime transportation in the Port has expanded to another coastal locale.
Newburyport Pedicab has expanded to the Martha's Vineyard town of Oak Bluffs. Former Newburyport Pedicab drivers John and William Pasquina run the Martha's Vineyard chapter.
"Our primary goal is to double our fundraising for the Pan-Mass Challenge," co-owner Kevin Murphy said. "If it works here, we figured we would duplicate it."
Started in 2007 by Murphy and Blake Harris, the charitable organization gives free rides to locals and tourists on the back of a bike. Young drivers pedal each rider through town to their destination.
While there is no charge to ride, tips are encouraged and a portion of the tips go to the Pan-Mass Challenge. The other portion takes care of bicycle upkeep.
Murphy and Harris say the idea to expand has been around for a while before they finally took the leap to execute it this season.
"It stems from a trip Kevin took," Harris said. "He got off the ferry with all his bags in 90-degree heat and was frustrated there was no real service for a short hop a few blocks away."
The Pasquina brothers offered to help Murphy and Harris jump-start the latest venture as they were hoping to move to the Vineyard and saw the timing as perfect.
"They had come back from working for the Red Cross and wanted to continue doing something with charity," Murphy said of the brothers.
Over the winter, Murphy and Harris said they did a lot of research as to whether the idea was viable and even spoke with taxi drivers in Oak Bluffs to get their reaction.
"Taxi drivers are all for it because they don't want to do the short trips for $5 when they can drive across the island for $50," Murphy said. Harris added, "The island is also into sustainable living and green living, and that's something we are trying to do."
Both Murphy and Harris say they will duplicate the model used in Newburyport almost exactly with four pedicabs traveling around Oak Bluffs.
"We know four pedicabs generate X amount of money and we put X toward charity," Murphy said. "We run lean, as it is all done with fundraising in mind, and we keep expenses low."
In the first two weeks of operation, the business received sponsorship for each of the four pedicabs and requests from other sponsors for them to add more.
"We only work with local companies, just as we do in Newburyport," Murphy said.
Harris noted sponsors include a green construction company, a store that sells green products, a bank and a restaurant.
While the two hope to continue to expand into other cities and towns in future years, for now they are focused on Newburyport and Oak Bluffs and a busy season to come.
"We've added a fifth pedicab in Newburyport and switched garages," Murphy said, noting the new garage location in the works will be behind Port Tavern.
The two are also happy that most of the first-year sponsors of Newburyport Pedicab continue to come back each year and sponsor.
"We are mostly sticking with what works," Harris said. "Why change it?"
By Katie Curley
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — The preferred mode of summertime transportation in the Port has expanded to another coastal locale.
Newburyport Pedicab has expanded to the Martha's Vineyard town of Oak Bluffs. Former Newburyport Pedicab drivers John and William Pasquina run the Martha's Vineyard chapter.
"Our primary goal is to double our fundraising for the Pan-Mass Challenge," co-owner Kevin Murphy said. "If it works here, we figured we would duplicate it."
Started in 2007 by Murphy and Blake Harris, the charitable organization gives free rides to locals and tourists on the back of a bike. Young drivers pedal each rider through town to their destination.
While there is no charge to ride, tips are encouraged and a portion of the tips go to the Pan-Mass Challenge. The other portion takes care of bicycle upkeep.
Murphy and Harris say the idea to expand has been around for a while before they finally took the leap to execute it this season.
"It stems from a trip Kevin took," Harris said. "He got off the ferry with all his bags in 90-degree heat and was frustrated there was no real service for a short hop a few blocks away."
The Pasquina brothers offered to help Murphy and Harris jump-start the latest venture as they were hoping to move to the Vineyard and saw the timing as perfect.
"They had come back from working for the Red Cross and wanted to continue doing something with charity," Murphy said of the brothers.
Over the winter, Murphy and Harris said they did a lot of research as to whether the idea was viable and even spoke with taxi drivers in Oak Bluffs to get their reaction.
"Taxi drivers are all for it because they don't want to do the short trips for $5 when they can drive across the island for $50," Murphy said. Harris added, "The island is also into sustainable living and green living, and that's something we are trying to do."
Both Murphy and Harris say they will duplicate the model used in Newburyport almost exactly with four pedicabs traveling around Oak Bluffs.
"We know four pedicabs generate X amount of money and we put X toward charity," Murphy said. "We run lean, as it is all done with fundraising in mind, and we keep expenses low."
In the first two weeks of operation, the business received sponsorship for each of the four pedicabs and requests from other sponsors for them to add more.
"We only work with local companies, just as we do in Newburyport," Murphy said.
Harris noted sponsors include a green construction company, a store that sells green products, a bank and a restaurant.
While the two hope to continue to expand into other cities and towns in future years, for now they are focused on Newburyport and Oak Bluffs and a busy season to come.
"We've added a fifth pedicab in Newburyport and switched garages," Murphy said, noting the new garage location in the works will be behind Port Tavern.
The two are also happy that most of the first-year sponsors of Newburyport Pedicab continue to come back each year and sponsor.
"We are mostly sticking with what works," Harris said. "Why change it?"
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