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.