Poll: Commuting Methods

The Denver Business Journal Online has a great poll today on various ways people get to work. Take a few seconds and check it out, vote, and leave your comments. Then take a look at the results.

How do you get to work?

Team Pedicab, Rounds 3-4

Good Day pedicabbers!

We are now in full swing of summer, and we have a cab up in Breckenridge, elevation, 9,600 feet. We have been spending the week pedaling and working. My first two nights were pretty average, and it took me a few hours to figure out the flow of people. Lo and behold, I came out tonight and made a good enough sum taking 70 year old women up our hills. I also flagged a couple of local young bar-rats whom I know and so, I came away with more than I anticipated. We burn calories like its out of style, and throw a smile on, regardless. Weather has been pretty cooperative, and believe it or not, I will be taking on drivers this weekend, do try their hand at riding. This is tough riding, because it isn't like normal riding. You really have to use your exposure and offer the crazy free ride everyone talks about. Otherwise, you will sufficate.

Breckenridge: Where your banker is your Boy Scoutmaster, local mountain bike racer, rotarian, and not to mention favorite pedicab operator. Sometime I will have a couple of cabs running and main street will be begging for a ped mall, but right now, I am the bike-dork of sorts, riding people up those hills for a nice tip. This weekend will be the second telling weekend, and I think the late night will require some crazy spinning.

Team Pedicab is hurting right now. Between climbing crazy mountains, wrecking our favorite beefsteak bike, and gnarling ourselves on course to the point of tears, we are regrouping. Brook is taking 1st in the women's beginner division, which means she will need to buck up and move to sport. Yours is learning the power of humility. Most recent race was the time trial where I missed my start and rode a 30 lb bike. I am working on changing and financing a frame, which will give me a better advantage. I am test-riding different bikes. Bike last week was the Kona Kikapu Deluxe, this week will be the Santa Cruz Blur or Superlight. The local bro-discount may apply, and I just hope to hit a good race Wednesday-- one that I know I can climb and hang with some of my nemeses.

With that, peeps, rebuilding is where I am. It is not about the bike, much like it is not about the pedicab. The bike is the means, not the end. I know I like bikes, I know I like to race, but now, it is about having fun. I am set on having fun. Ultimately, my stitches, were humbling, but the bike gods hit me harder on the Firecracker 50. Bike broke 5 times and it learned me a valuable lesson- love the bike, don't love the race.

On another, more charitable front, the Summit County Rotaract group is trying to get something going with Project Rwanda. It is looking like September, and we are working on raising monies for some bike tools for the coffee bikes, posted in a previous post. I have had contact with a famous name in components- but he plugged me into a couple of people who just love bikes and love to ride- not to race. We are trying to make some money for a cool international project-- Thanks for the heads up on the project, BIG TREE! Keep in touch about this, and Mountain Pedicab Company will continue to fit here somewhere.

Additionally, I found some time to climb Longs Peak, a fourteener, actually, under the auspices of Mountain Pedicab Company. We hiked this one. Ben, our Front-Ranger was present and a little height averse. I was smiling the entire way. We made it to the top without event or problem, other than a knotted stomach, and a new respect for granite slabs. Later on this day, we did ride, for some time, albeit whipped. I mean whipped. Imagine a stairstep for 12 hours. Then imagine hauling drunks around. Google Longs Peak, and you may get an idea of what an undertaking this was. We started at 2am, reached the summit at 9, back down by 3. Not the winners, but still Alpinists all the same. It was rewarding, but still tiring. Try it!

Any of your comments on the Mountain Pedicab front are appreciated!

http://www.mavsports.com
http://www.coffeebike.com
http://www.projectrwanda.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longs_Peak

Yours, without pictures, right now, but some good links!

beefsteak

Who's riding in your cab?

The passenger in your pedicab could be anybody. Sports star? CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation? Music producer? You never really know, as this story at SI.com illustrates.

A week after receiving his U.S. visa and trying out in four NBA cities, Greek prospect Giorgos Printezis arrived in New York for the NBA Draft...

"We couldn't get a taxi,'' [his American agent, Kenny] Grant said. "Then a bike went by."

It was one of those pedaled rickshaws, a bicycle with a carriage in back.

"We said, 'Can you take us to the Garden?''' Grant said. "The guy said, 'Sure. Where is it?'"

The two-mile ride took more than 10 minutes. Printezis, a small forward, is 6-8 and 205 pounds, and Grant is a 6-foot former point guard.

"Every time we would stop for a red light, I felt so sorry for the guy on the bike," Grant said. "He was so slow getting started again."

The rickshaw pulled them down 5th Avenue then across 34th Street against traffic to the back entrance of the Garden.

"He pulls up to that green awning on 33rd,'' Grant said. "All the limos are lined up there for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, and here we pull up in a rickshaw."

Feel free to click on comments below and share your own stories of the rich and famous. But remember, the person riding in your cab is always important, whether they're rich or famous or not. Treat everyone like the star they think they are.

Word of the day

TheFreeDictionary.com's word of the day today is...

ped·i·cab
n. A small three-wheeled vehicle having a seat, pedals, and handlebars in front for the operator and a usually hooded cab in back for passengers.

pedicab - a tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling); used in the Orient for transporting passengers for hire; "boys who once pulled rickshaws now pedal pedicabs"
cycle rickshaw
tricycle, trike, velocipede - a vehicle with three wheels that is moved by foot pedals

(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)

Happy Independence Day from Cayman

I wanted to pass on these well wishes from our pedicab brother Brian in Cayman.

Hi to my fellow Pedicabbers.
Hope you all have a safe Holiday and hope you are all riding your butts off on a pedicab.
I just had two more bikes shipped to Cayman.
I had no one to ride for a while, so I brought in workers from the Philippines.
My web site will be fully up shortly and will have links to you all.
Take care and god bless the Pedicab world.

Brian

Brian A Barnes & Co. Ltd.
Wheels PediCab Service
Cayman Cayman Islands

NYC: regs that make you go hmmmm

I know the City Council is trying to be "fair", but it seems to me that the process for receiving permits is crazy. I read the information at the web site for the New York City Pedicab Owners Association (nycpoa.org), and all I can say is "hmmmmm".

There's no allowance for larger or older fleets who built the industry in NYC. There's nothing for local operations with pedicabs in NYC prior to the deadline. (Hmmmm, maybe we should move some of our fleet from Denver to NYC.)

Funny that the City Council should have so many issues with pedicabs, while promoting them as part of the NYC experience. Rather than working with pedicab owners to develop regulations that solve the real issues, they've chosen to marginalize an entire industry. It appears that they want to ensure that pedicabs are nothing more than a novelty for tourists instead of making them part of a real solution to problems of traffic congestion and air quality.

These new regs may prohibit someone from selling their pedicab business. Since licenses are not transferable, except to a vehicle within the same fleet, would someone who wants to buy your business have to go to the bottom of the waiting list? If so, how long might it take to finally receive your new permits? Or would the the licenses be part of the sale of the business?

As for the waiting list, if you requested 20 permits, would you have to wait until all 20 were available, or would you receive them one at a time as they become available?

I hope that the regulations on safety inspections are more clear (which I'm sure they're not), rather than being open to the arbitrary interpretation and opinion of individuals who know little if anything about pedicabs. We've seen this create problems elsewhere. In Oklahoma City, a person of authority suddenly decided that pedicab drivers needed to have a physical before being licensed. And a ski resort town wanted to regulate the color of pedicabs and limit advertisers to locally-owned businesses, although major manufacturers of sports equipment and apparel had ads throughout the town. Hmmmm.

And what's with not riding in the bike lanes? If they're worried about safety in traffic, why keep pedicabs out of the bike lane and force them into traffic? Are there that many cyclists on the city streets?

At the risk of sounding trite... can't we all just get along? Doesn't anybody talk to one another anymore? I would think that in a city the size of New York there would be plenty of business for everyone. Rather than being afraid of competition, why not embrace it and find a way to work together? Taxis, black cars, carriages and pedicabs serve different markets, although I'll admit that there may be some overlap. Maybe focusing on the passengers -- your customers -- and delivering high-quality service would be more beneficial than all this squabbling. I find it hard to believe that a few hundred pedicabs would be such a grave threat to the thousands of taxis operating in NYC.

As consultants to pedicab operations throughout North America, we work hard to bring legitimacy to this developing industry. With legitimacy comes regulation. We support reasonable regulation. When well thought out and enforced, regulations can level the playing field and protect all stakeholders. When poorly designed, they can become little more than red tape and bureaucracy that serves no one.

I don't claim to be an expert on pedicabs in New York City; the NYCPOA is. But in my opinion, these regulations are far from reasonable. Hmmmm.

Read this article from AM New York (below) and visit the NYCPOA web site for more insight into the new regs. Then read the article posted prior to this, Pedicabs a California Polution Solution, and consider how Fresno, California is utilizing pedicabs for cleaner air.

Agency proposes limits on number of pedicabs
July 4, 2007

Fewer bicycle cabs will be pedaling around New York this fall if rules to license only 325 of the cabs are adopted next month.

The city Department of Consumer Affairs proposed new rules this week that were passed by the City Council earlier this year, limiting the number of pedicabs and mandating that the cyclists have valid U.S. drivers licenses.

Only people who owned cabs before April can apply for the plates, and owners can apply for up to 30 licenses. The New York Pedicab Owners Association said in a written statement that the process favors individuals over organized fleets that built the pedicab industry.

Individuals "simply need to sign a statement indicating they were operating [even without insurance] for one year prior to" April, said the pedicab association president Peter Meitzler.

The City Council voted to regulate the industry in April after a mayoral veto. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to boost the number of plates to about 500.

The Consumer Affairs department will hold a public hearing on the proposed rules in August, hoping to finalize them soon after.

Proponents of the new rules have said the industry needs to be regulated and insured. Opponents have claimed the rules will take away jobs from the more than 500 pedicab cyclists already on the road.

Pedicabs a California polution solution

While New York City is limiting pedicab services, Fresno, California, is embracing them as part of a solution to air polution. Go figure. (Great job, Joe et al!)

Pedicab partnership aims to help clear air

Summer is undoubtedly the worst season for air quality in the Valley.

But the bright yellow pedicabs found at Fresno's most popular spots are doing something about it.

Shuttlebugz pedicabs, which are already carting people around River Park, the Tower District, Fulton Mall and at special events, have expanded to provide regular weekday service in downtown Fresno.

The new service will include food deliveries and rides in the area from Divisadero to Ventura streets and from R to G streets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The service, a pilot program running until Nov. 5, results from a partnership with the Shuttlebugz company, the city of Fresno's Department of Transportation and Fresno Area Express.

Through the partnership, the pedicab drivers will get a small stipend for working during the lunchtime hours, said Shuttlebugz owner Joseph Burke. The rest of the time, the drivers work only for tips.

The city of Fresno was interested in the program because "it provides a point A to point B service, and it's a method of green transportation with no kind of fuel or energy necessary," Burke said.

The three-wheeled pedicabs may not use gas or electricity, but they certainly require energy -- hauling around 600 pounds-worth of passengers and a 185-pound bike taxi reinvents the definition of "manpower."

Each driver logs 30 to 40 miles per day in the downtown area, taking people to and from workplaces and nearby eateries.

Former loan officer Robert Kurtz, 32, said he logged more than 60,000 miles on his regular bike in a year and thought he was in good shape for the job.

"But those first three shifts break your body down," he said. "I guess after two weeks you get used to it."

On workdays Kurtz drinks 22 glasses of water a day, stretches whenever he is stopped, and sleeps as much as possible, he said.

Three drivers work Fresno's downtown area every day. They do not follow a set route but roam areas where they are more likely to find more pedestrians, such as the courthouse, The Galleria and Fulton Mall, Kurtz said.

Drivers usually pick up random pedestrians but can be called at (559) 433-7373 to schedule a door-to-door ride.

It takes five minutes or less to respond to a call, Kurtz said. "We've never had someone call and then call back wondering where their ride is," he said.

Time-crunched downtown employees also can order and pay for their food by phone and then call a Shuttlebugz driver to have the food delivered to their workplace.

Pedicab operators mostly rely on tips for their services.

"The average tip is a couple of bucks a block," Kurtz said. "We give some free rides to people who really need to get somewhere fast but can't afford it. Good deeds like that come back to us anyway."

But big tippers are much appreciated, Kurtz said.

"If they tip well we can take them for a nice ride all the way to the top of the parking garages," Kurtz said.

Shuttlebugz will continue to serve the Tower District on Friday and Saturday nights, River Park on Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., special events at the Fresno Convention Center, Fresno State football games and Grizzlies games one hour before they start and about half an hour after they end, Kurtz said.

Q: What do you do when you've lost your mojo?

Can you help this driver get his mojo back?

A couple weekends ago, we met up with a very frustrated pedicab driver on a busy Friday evening. The last few times he was out he really struggled to get rides while everyone else was rockin' and rollin'. He wanted a discount on his rent because he wasn't doing well.

He'd been pedicabbing off and on for almost a year, but hadn't been out regularly in recent months. Whenever he did ride, he complained about the condition of the cab he was riding, pointing out every little squeek and rattle. When he first started driving he rocked, but it seemed he'd lost his mojo. Some new bills at home and fewer hours at his regular job made him more desparate to make money on his pedicab. It seemed the harder he tried, the fewer rides he got.

What would you do with this driver? What would you tell him? Would you give him a discount? Have you had a similar experience? Can you help him get his mojo back?

I'll tell you what we did later on, but first I want your opinion. Please click on comments below and tell us how you would solve this mojo dilemma.

New York City plans pedicab regulations

City prepares to regulate pedicabs

City officials, who are facing a Sept. 20 deadline to begin regulating the pedicab industry, announced today that they intend to distribute 325 licenses evenly among the companies that already operate the human-powered vehicles.

The number of pedicabs — a form of transportation that has become increasingly popular in Midtown, to the chagrin of taxi owners and bus drivers — has skyrocketed in recent years as tourists increasingly use them to get around Midtown. Under a law passed by the City Council over a veto by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the number of pedicabs will be capped at 325.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, which was given the responsibility to regulate the industry, proposed dividing the 325 licenses evenly among the existing pedicab companies — estimated to number perhaps a dozen or more — “as though we were handing out a deck of cards,” said Jonathan B. Mintz, the consumer affairs commissioner.

The new legislation had directed the agency to give preference to existing cab operators above companies seeking to enter the market.

The new pedicab licenses, or plates, will not be like taxicab medallions, which can be sold, traded and mortgaged and have recently gone for more than $420,000. The pedicab licenses cannot be sold; they may, however, be transferred from older to newer vehicles.

No individual cab company can request more than 30 licenses. If, after the licenses are distributed to the companies that request them, licenses are left over, they will be given out to companies or individuals that place themselves on a waiting list. (It is highly unlikely that there will be any licenses left over.)

“Our proposal strikes the fairest approach by dividing all 325 evenly among those already in the industry,” Mr. Mintz told reporters in a conference call this afternoon.

The department hopes to have the rules in place by mid-August, in advance of the Sept. 20 date on which the law will take effect. The department is holding a public hearing on the new rules on Aug. 3 in the second-floor auditorium at 125 Worth Street.

The new law requires that pedicabs undergo an annual safety inspection and carry safety features like reflective plates, brakes and seat belts. It also requires cab owners to obtain insurance.

The City Council approved the pedicab bill on Feb. 28 over objections from some cab owners. The mayor seemed poised to sign the bill on March 14, but at the last minute, decided not to do so, swayed by arguments that the tiny industry should remain relatively unregulated. On March 30, the mayor vetoed the bill, but on April 23, the Council voted to override him.

There are pedicab companies in NYC with more than 30 pedicabs in the fleet who are being forced to downsize, while smaller companies are boosting their fleet to meet the 30-cab max. Is that an unfair advantage? Are the smaller companies riding on the years of hard work of the larger companies?

The City Council says this is the fairest approach, but is it really? Alternatives might be to force everyone to downsize equally based on a percentage of their fleet or number of years in operation. Seems like the larger operations are being penalized to the benefit of the smaller ones.

And if you were even thinking about opening a new pedicab business in NYC, you can forget it. I'm certain there was a more elegant solution to the issue than this.