Another silly turf war

Posted in The Chattanooga Pulse
June 13, 2007

It isn’t every day that you watch a battle between horse-drawn carriage operators and pedicabs at a City Council meeting, but once such ruckus went down last Tuesday.The carriage operators are concerned about climbing insurance rates should pedicab folks have to file claims on accidents. But the pedicab guys say the carriage operators are worried the man-drawn, trike-like modes of transportation are horning in on their business.

Pedicab trips are free with the exception of driver tips.

There are apparently no ordinances governing pedicab use in the city, other than bike ordinances, so City Councilman Jack Benson said he wants to see what the council can do to make the pedicabs as safe as possible for drivers, pedestrians and others in town. He told people at the Legal and Legislative Committee meeting that a pedicab almost hit him while he was strolling on a downtown sidewalk.

Pedicab representatives said their transportation service tries to offer rides to people in areas that aren’t being served by CARTA’s electric shuttle buses.

In addition to those problems, carriage operators also say the pedicabs scare the horses.

Someone from Denver (or from other cities that have both pedicabs and carriages) please comment on this, particularly the last sentence.