Wake up and Repent!

In Denver, as in most cities, sporting events provide great opportunities for pedicab drivers to make money. With 7 or so pro teams in our downtown area, plus concerts and other events, these sports venues are important arenas for our drivers and the other pedicab operations in the city.

Now, one of our most popular venues is threatening to ban pedicabs altogether. There have been little incidents each season for the past couple of years. Until now, we've been able to convince the management that pedicabs are a good thing for their patrons and should be allowed to ride on the property. Not any more.

Unfortunately, there are those in our industry who think the world somehow owes them something. The rules don't apply to them because they don't much care what they leave behind -- good or bad. They just do whatever they want and the hell with all the rest. They won't be around to clean up the mess. If pedicabs are banned, they'll just do something else (although I'm not sure what they could do that would be better). As one indy driver told us last year, "I don't care. I'll just deliver groceries in my pedicab."

After incidents of rudeness to patrons, downright nastiness to staff, blatantly ignoring the rules and requests of the venue, reckless and/or drunk driving, etc. the venue management was upset. Finally, after a staffer carrying her 2-year-old was knocked down in the snow by a pedicab last week, management said ENOUGH! As the largest and best-known pedicab company in Denver, we got the call. No more pedicabs on the property.

We know who the trouble-makers are -- the ones who say "F*** YOU!" anytime someone says something to them, and the ones who nod in agreement until your back is turned and they give you the finger. They know who they are. These I-don't-give-a-shit-about-anyone-but-myself punks may have cost all the pedicab drivers in the city a valuable opportunity to make money.

We tried to warn them. After an angry call from the management last year and threats to ban pedicabs then, we told them this could happen if everyone didn't behave and follow the rules. We got the same response we got before... "F*** YOU! I don't have to do what you say! You're not the boss of me!"

Can't we all just get along?

I'm so sick of that! Obviously... NO! we can't!

It would be nice. In a perfect world, a utopia, we'd all get along, appreciate each other and the opportunities we have. We'd all treat one another with respect. It would be nice, if everyone followed the rules, cared about safety and service. It would be nice if everyone had a valid pedal cab license, business license, insurance, lights, brakes -- all those niceties that make a business legit.

Alas, Pedicabdom isn't a perfect world. Along with most of our drivers, we just hoped the hooligans would just go away. We all know who causes the most problems, and exchange complaints about them all the time. But what to do? Break their legs? Flatten their tires? Steal their shoes? Slap their wrists? (Is there anyplace that still uses stocks?) I'm not one to advocate violence, but... DAMN! ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Repent! Get it together! This is your wake-up call.

One More Time

This post appeared on the Pedicab Yahoo Group. Very well written observations by Billy O in Phoenix. We have and still are experiencing some of the same issues in Denver, for now on a smaller scale. We hear about similar situations from other operators across the country.

All of us are judged by each of us.

The whole industry was given yet another black eye over the last couple days in Scottsdale during the Super Bowl parties.

Raiders from San Diego showed up.

I know that not all San Diego riders are like the ones who were most visible out there last night. And I know we have riders here in Phoenix who are just like the San Diego people who so completely and thoughtlessly came in to rape and run at this event.

They say "we just charge what the market will bear". Except the effects of their charging 20 and 40 bucks a head plus tip will linger long after they have left here. And the ripples of gouging go outward from here to affect the entire industry, all cross the country.

They say they have the right to charge 80 bucks for a ride because it cost them so much to get here, and they have to eat, and pay for hotel rooms and gas on top of lease. So its okay to gouge the people attending a major event, because, you know, the people are here to spend money anyway.

Its okay because even after being told that nobody gets to run in Glendale because the City has decided to protect itself from predatory pedicab practices, its okay to go to a nearby city and give yet another city a reason to ban human powered ransportation.

Its okay to crowd the doorways of events, to jam as many rigs as possible as close as possible to the security checkpoints because the cops let it happen.

Its okay to cut in front of lines that have been formed by the people who got there first because the well mannered people with an eye to the future will refuse to start fist fights at the event as a way to enforce fair operational practices.

Its okay to do hit and runs in parking lots and in grid locked traffic cuz you'll be gone in a day and theres no way to get caught when the cops are so busy.

Its okay to do whatever you can get away with because tomorrow never comes.

I know that not all San Diego pedicabbers are like this. Not all of them act like they were trained by the old bike man limo company. And I know that we have people here in the Valley who act like that too. The worst of human nature is not confined to any one geographical area.

All of us are judged by each of us. The true soul riders, the professionals, will be invisible when seen next to the raiders who think the whole world is their own private toilet.

The single biggest threat to the human powered transportation industry is some of the all too human people doing it.

with huge regret and great sadness

sincerely,

Billy O

If you're not already a member of the Yahoo Group, sign up and read the comments. Just go to yahoo.com and search for "pedicab" under groups. Very interesting.

A follow up comment:

the Police and the Property Owners find it much easier to just ban all of us rather than try to take the time to find out who is professional and who is predatory.

NFL Stadium Barriers

Found this post on Rickshaw Forum and thought I'd post it here to get some feedback from drivers/operators in the U.S. Here in Denver, we just had our first Broncos game of the preseason on Saturday, and things seemed to run pretty smoothly.

The NFL has issued a mandatory security barrier be set up around all stadiums. Here in Green Bay they are about 100 feet from the gates. We have had access the last 13 years, but now they are not letting us into the "zone". Although they do let us onto the lot, and we still have an excellent working relationship with the Packers & Lambeau stadium, having to drop passengers off 100 feet away is somewhat of a downer. Has this hampered any other operators who work NFL stadiums??
-- Gike

Please respond with your experiences so far this season.