Pedicabs may soon be rolling through Elm City

By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor

NEW HAVEN — Outgoing Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale, D-14, Thursday saw one more pedestrian-friendly city transportation option added to her legacy as a lawmaker concerned with safe streets and clean air.

The Board of Aldermen approved her proposed ordinance that outlines the rules for any entrepreneur who wants to run a pedicab service here.

After a public hearing, the original proposal was amended with some safety caveats that require seat belts for the occupants of the three-person vehicle and training for the drivers.

There can be a total of 20 pedicabs in operation, although the city’s traffic authority can increase that for special events.

Sturgis-Pascale, who has been a leader on safe streets and traffic calming measures that are being emphasized in neighborhoods and development projects, said she is looking forward to her first ride in a pedicab.

The ordinance will put New Haven in the same league as New York, Portland, Ore., Boston, San Diego, Austin, Texas, and Chicago, which allow pedicabs.

The only area municipality with pedicab service is Milford, where four cabs are in operation. In New Haven, Paul Hammer and John Binford, a Yale University medical student, are interested in starting a similar operation.

When Sturgis-Pascale recently came back to New Haven on the train from New York, she said she had to take a taxi downtown to the State Street station, but would have preferred to just jump in a pedicab as a “novel, sustainable, slower option.”

Operators of pedicabs will need to be licensed and carry liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance. They also will need to take the Smart Cycling course offered by the League of American Bicyclists, to demonstrate they know how to correctly navigate through traffic.

It was felt that New Haven’s flat geography was conducive to nonmotorized transportation. The City Plan Commission found that the pedicabs would be a positive addition to the transportation options, although it recommended the ordinance be assessed within one year to look at any safety issues.

Sturgis-Pascale decided not to seek re-election to her aldermanic seat after her term ends this year because the considerable time demands of the office kept her from young family. Still, she said she wouldn’t have felt comfortable leaving without the strong coalition of concerned lawmakers and citizens that has been established around safe streets in New Haven.

“I feel there has been a groundswell of interest in these topics,” she said, and felt her legacy will be carried on by Alderman Roland Leman, D-9, and freshman Democrat Aldermen Justin Elicker in East Rock’s 10th Ward and Michael Jones in the 1st Ward.

Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com.