Marcy Cardona of the Austin Transportation Department division of Public Works sent the following email message to all pedicab company owners in Austin today:

You will find attached a draft pedicab ordinance.  Please review and make available to your drivers.  If you have concerns regarding the alleged lack of safety of trailers or a possible cap on pedicabs, address those concerns either to Nathan Lipson of Metrocycle or Steve Smjastrla of Heart of Texas.  We would like to schedule a meeting with stakeholders and drivers as soon as possible - afternoon hours would be preferred.  I appreciate you getting back with me to let me know what day and time best fits your schedules.

Below is a copy of the draft ordinance attached in the email, now in .pdf format:

Austin Draft Pedicab Ordinance .pdf format

Here is the draft in the original Word format:

Austin draft pedicab in word format

via yapak/yakap

Kerosene in a bottle.

Fiber wick and wick holder.

Modified tin can as wind guard / reflector.

Simple, brilliant, cheap, effective, and culturally appropriate.

Thanks CNN.

CNN: Startups pitch on pedicab

While I firmly believe that pedicab trailers are inferior to purpose built tricycle style pedicabs, trailers can be improved.  My main reasons for disliking trailers is that they are more difficult to operate due to the giant hinge between the 100 to 200 pound operator and the 250 to 750 pounds of trailer and passengers, and much harder on the operators body, because the gears are not low enough.  That and almost universally they don’t have additional brakes to compensate for the added weight of the passengers (100 to 600 pounds) and the trailer itself (~150 pounds).

I have determined over the last 4 years of operating and building pedicabs that the lowest gear needs to be about 12 gear inches or lower to be used long term in Austin.  This is simply not possible to achieve with currently available bike parts on a standard mountain bike, but is dead simple with a tricycle style pedicab drive train.

Further I believe it is a bad business practice to rent a trailer to someone and require them to bring their own bike.  (A common practice in Austin.)  This shifts the responsibility of maintaining two of the major safety systems (front light and brakes)  away from the company owner to the pedicab operator.  Additionally, the drive trains of a tow bike, being only designed to pull the weight of one person will wear out very quickly, leaving them more problematic and less reliable.  Same is true of  brakes of course.

All that being said, Austin’s current proposed updates to the pedicab ordinance require disc brakes on each wheel of a trailer style pedicab.  This would be a huge improvement.  This requirement was implemented recently in Houston, and previously in Phoenix, AZ.

Bruce Swan of Lone Star Cyclery built a new trailer several months ago.  That trailer has 2 disc brakes, one for each wheel.  The brakes are actuated by a single brake lever mounted on the handle bars in the place where the rear bicycle wheel brake lever would normally go.  On his setup,  the rear wheel of the bicycle has no brake, but this loss of stopping power is more than made up for by the addition of brakes on his trailer.

On Bruce’s rig a single brake cable goes back to the trailer.  This cable then hooks on to a loop of cable that attaches between both brake calipers.  By pulling the one brake lever, this then acts on both disc brakes.

Making all of this happen can be done with mostly off-the-shelf bike parts.  Starting at the front and working to the back, the following items may be helpful.  Of course other options exist, but this one is fairly simple and well supported by repair parts from a bicycle shop, and bicycle mechanics that will know how to work on these types of brakes:

1 Brake lever: http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=12225

1 Brake Cable and Housing: http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=14141 and http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=14338

1 Cable stop for the end of the front brake cable.  This would be welded to the pedicab trailer where it would line up well with the rear brake cable loop. : http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/INVESTMENT-CAST-SINGLE-CABLE-STOP.html  

1 Cable straddle hooky thingy: http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/brakes/grand-cru-constructeur-straddle-wire-roller-hangers.html or: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CJZC1A/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0029LD7QW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TDBTVZFEKT0ZDK4H25R

2 x Cable adjusters to tension the rear loop of cable between the disc brake calipers.  These are also welded to the trailer so that they line up well with the rear brakes: http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/STI-STOP-FOR-DOWNTUBE.html and http://www.bikeman.com/BR4045i.html

1 x Brake cable and 2 sections of housing to go between the rear brakes and the “cable-straddle-hooky-thingy”.  The middle section of brake cable is bare, allowing the “cable straddle hooky thingy” to grab on to the rear cable loop.  The two cable housing sections then guide the rear brake cable to the disc brake calipers, thus forming the rear brake loop.

2 x Disc brakes: http://www.blueskycycling.com/view_product.php?pid=39 or http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=12966 I highly recommend Avid BB7s.  They are relatively inexpensive, very effective, and the brake pads last a long time.

2 x Disc brake mounts of some sort.  Some thing like the following may have to be custom made, and carefully positioned for each trailer depending on the wheel drop out spacing, etc. : http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/STEEL-ISO-DISK-BRAKE-MOUNT.html

2 x Bicycle hubs with disc mounts: http://www.choppersus.com/store/product/820/Wide-Hub—Freewheel-Disc-BLK/  or http://www.choppersus.com/store/product/814/Front-Hub—Single-Disc-Black/ or http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=38930

2 x 36 hole rims: http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=47629 or http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222363790/419/Alex-DM24-20-36h-Silver.html

72 spokes of the correct length: http://www.danscomp.com/435905.php?cat=PARTS

It looks like the folks at Boston Pedicab have set up a new shop in Seattle.  Now that they are there, they want the city to regulate pedicabs and of course have all the old pedicab operators to get insurance and comply to new standards they are not used to.  While it is appropriate for the pedicabs to be regulated by a city, and to have insurance to protect their customers, it is easy to see how the Seattle old timers would be irate that the new kids on the block are trying to force additional ongoing expenses upon them.  Every time a city regulates pedicabs, especially when they have been quietly operating for years, there will be an established group that will resist the changes and won’t know how to deal with the new rules and regulations forced upon them.  Witness Houston and New York City.

If a quick Google search is performed for “PEDICAB INSURANCE“,  four insurance companies that will insure pedicabs can be found:

 http://www.isuwestlake.com/insurance-pedicab/index.html

 http://www.pedicabinsurance.com/

http://www.lkalmanson.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=12

http://massinsurers.com/pages/pedicab-insurance.html

 There may be more than these.  If you are a trying to get an insurance policy for your pedicab company, get quotes from as many companies as you can and learn what exactly the policy covers.  One good practice is to contact the transportation authority in your city and ask for the names of the insurance companies currently in use for pedicabs.  If your city does not have any on file, contact other transportation departments of cities in your state where pedicabs are operated and ask for the names of the insurance companies used by pedicab companies in that city.

Source:

Push to regulate Seattle’s pedicab business

Video:

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/120869749.html

by CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News

Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:06 AM

SEATTLE — After a deadly pedicab accident in 2008, there were calls for immediate changes to regulation to make them safer. But still nothing has happened.

Brad Drago is a Seattle pedicab driver.

“I’m my own boss, make my own hours, good money,” he said.

So does Dan DeCordova, who’d like to see some safety and training regulation in his business.

“We’re being forced to operate in a gray area, and screaming to come out into the light,” Dan said.

These and other drivers have been pushing for uniform rules since the deadly accident at Western and Cedar in 2008 that was caused by bad brakes. But to this point almost two and a half years later, nothing has really changed.

Fred Podesta, Seattle’s Director of Finance and Administrative Services, says the issue is complex.

“Day in, day out, there aren’t a lot of problems,” said Podesta. “We’re still looking at what is the problem we’re trying to solve, and what would the solutions look like, and how do you pay for that.”

One hang up is whether the city should force drivers to have insurance. That’s a clause backed by a Boston-based pedicab company, which just opened a branch in Seattle.

“There is not that much insurance out there for us,” said DeCordova. He also worries extra fees of any sort could bring business to a halt.

Right now, Seattle only requires pedicab drivers to carry a business license. Not even a safety inspection is required.

Source:

Pedicab ordinances approved

By Todd Gill

The Fayetteville City Council voted on Tuesday to allow pedicabs on sections of city trails between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and on certain roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or greater.

The changes were part of a proposal by Ward 2 Alderman Matthew Petty who received requests from pedicab company owners who sought to extend their services to downtown residents and to game-day crowds on Razorback Road.

Until now, pedicabs have been restricted to a roughly four-square-mile area of downtown/Dickson and to roads with a speed limit less than 35 mph.

Safety issues were a concern for residents who spoke out against the ordinance changes, but Fayetteville Pedicab Co. owner Jason Sexton reiterated his opinion that the slow-moving pedicabs are anything but dangerous.

“We’re talking about an extremely safe bicycle being able to operate on a bike trail,” said Sexton. “I can find no incident of a pedicab being involved in any kind of an accident on any bike trail anywhere.”

Ward 2 Alderman Mark Kinion agreed and said he had also been researching the safety of pedicabs.

“There is not anything I could find showing that there are pedestrians being run down by pedicabs,” said Kinion. “There’s actually a great deal of information on the overall safety and responsibility in association with pedicabs, even in high density areas.”

The ordinance was approved unanimously.

Ads on pedicabs

Mayor Lioneld Jordan cast the tie-breaking vote to approve an exemption to the city’s sign ordinance which will allow small advertisements on the backs of pedicabs operating in the downtown/Dickson area.

Until now, city law stated that the only vehicles allowed to display offsite advertisements (ads for other businesses) are motorized taxicabs and buses.

Four aldermen were not at all in favor of adding another exemption to the law. Alderwomen Adella Gray, Brenda Thiel, Rhonda Adams and Sarah Lewis all said they believed that exemptions jeopardize the sign ordinance which contributes to the overall beauty of Fayetteville by not allowing unattractive signs and billboards inside the city limits.

“It makes me very concerned with the direction that this is going,” said Ward 4 Alderwoman Sarah Lewis, who recently sponsored an ordinance (which did not pass) to revoke advertising on motorized taxicabs. “It’s frustrating for me to watch this community chisel away at something that’s really cool about Fayetteville.”

Aldermen Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Bobby Ferrell, and Justin Tennant were all in favor of allowing the exemption.

“I respect our sign ordinance tremendously,” said Ward 3 Alderman Justin Tennant. “To me, I don’t see a huge harm—in the entertainment district—by having a small sign on what is really a pretty small structure.”

With four votes in favor and for against, Mayor Jordan broke the tie by voting to allow pedicabs to display ads.

“I don’t think five pedicabs is going to make a whole lot of difference,” said Jordan.

A recap

Pedicabs Can

• Pedicabs may operate on Scull Creek Trail, Frisco Trail, Mud Creek Trail and other transportation trails between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• Drivers may place 2-foot-by-3-foot advertisements on the backs of the pedicabs operating in the downtown/Dickson area

Pedicabs Cannot

• Pedicabs may not operate on any section of trail deemed “too narrow” by the Parks & Recreation director or on any park trails such as Lake Fayetteville, Wilson Park, Gulley Park, etc.
• No advertisements will be allow on pedicabs operating on city trails

A word from Alderman Petty

We asked Mr. Petty what his thoughts were now that his ordinances have passed. Here are his comments:

While it was my goal to pass the most liberal pedicab ordinances possible, I am proud of the consensus we were able to establish among the Council for expanding the areas pedicabs are allowed to serve in Fayetteville. This is a step in the right direction for making alternative transportation more accepted in Fayetteville. After time has passed and the people of Fayetteville have seen how safe and beneficial pedicabs are, I will ask the Council again to give pedicabs greater opportunity to serve our citizens.

I especially want to thank Alderwoman Rhonda Adams. The restrictions* she asked for in the beginning of this discussion were, in my opinion, too much, but we were able to come to a compromise which led to a unanimous decision by the Council. I deeply appreciate Rhonda’s courteous consideration and professionalism.

Source:

Another delay on Pedicab rules?

COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Disagreement about where pedicabs can drive and park apparently will once again delay Austin City Council action on an ordinance laying out rules for the growing industry. Council Member Chris Riley, who postponed the item last week, said Wednesday that it will likely lose its spot at today’s meeting as well.

Currently, the 17 or so pedicab operators in Austin are regulated under terms of individual franchise agreements with the city. This ordinance would standardize those terms for pedicab businesses here, including setting out a Central Austin area where they could operate on streets with speed limits at or below 35 mph.

But it also says the rickshaw-type vehicles cannot drive on sidewalks, with the exception of the sidewalks on bridges over Lady Bird Lake. And the law would put strict limits on where the cabs can park. Riley said operators are still pushing to loosen those limits, and that an amended version of the ordinance likely will be on the May 12 council agenda.

Source:
Pols Seek to Keep Limit on City’s Pedicabs

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Local pols could keep a cap on the number of pedicabs on city streets under new legislation set to be debated Wednesday.

The bill, introduced by City Councilman Dan Garodnick, who represents the East Side, would prevent the current license cap from expiring in May, holding the number of pedicabs allowed in the city at the current 850.

“We have reached our saturation point. There is no room for more pedicabs on the streets,” said Garodnick, whose office has received numerous complaints about the pricey tourist rides.

If the number dips below 840, a handful of new pedicabs would be added, Garodnick said.

The proposal is part of a larger package of tougher rules for the industry, which will go before the council during its monthly stated meeting Thursday.

All have the support of the mayor.

The following short film examines some of the really positive aspects of pedicabbing.

“Reduction of suffering” is a good way to put what we do and why people will pay us.  Often we bring them joy and excitement.  Sometimes we tell them about our favorite places.  Sometimes we help them out of bad situations.  Not all pedicabbers are saints.  Even the best of us have bad moments.  In general we are valued because we help people and encourage them to have better experiences while visiting Downtown Austin.

Click the link to watch the movie:

 http://www.finearts.ohio.edu/film/pages/screening-room/films/PedicabJennyRoberts.htm 

It’s nice to see that the Athens, Ohio pedicab culture is getting started out with the right intentions.

I love this video.  Improve Everywhere is kinda famous for showing up at Best Buy with 50 people wearing Blue polo shirts and khaki pants and being very helpful.   As a newly wed and a pedicabber with a weird sense of humor I think this is great.

Click the link and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lVS22y4uoU

The City of Austin has a very interesting web page up that spells out the cost of tickets that pedicabbers and other cyclists will commonly get.

This information and additional details can be found here:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/court/bicycle.htm

The following fines were copied from the website above:

The video linked below shows the consequence of letting customers influence your decision making while operating a pedicab.  In Austin during night time hours, our customers are often drunk.  It is up to the pedicab operator to make the decisions, not the customer.  An experienced good pedicab operator will know the difference pleasing their customers with a little bit of graceful fun, and damaging their pedicab and ruining their night or entire week or longer if you have to replace parts like rear wheels and disc brakes.

Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIee1iBFQwA

Notice how little regard the customers have for the plight of this pedicab driver.  They really don’t care at all about him or his equipment.  They are just showing off for the camera, and loving that they were “powerful” enough to damage the cab and upset him.  The bystanders in the video say to the pedicab driver after he asks for help “Your on your own dude.”  “Help me? - Goodbye.”

Looking at the Mainstreet spare parts website, to repair this bike you would likely need the following parts and labor:

• New rear wheel -  $125.00 -$145.00
• New rear brake disk - $19.00
• True the non-tacoed rear wheel if possible - 1 hour @ $25.00 / hr., $125.00 - $145.00  for replacement if not possible.
• Remove of passenger carriage, rear axle, old brake disc. Then reinstall new disc, axle and passenger carriage.  Align rear brake.  4 to 5 hours @ $25.00 / hr.  $100 to $125.00
• Touch up paint on bottom side of frame to prevent rust.  - 1 to 2 hours @ $25.00 / hr.

All said and done, this operator not only cost himself the earnings from the rest of his night ($50.00 to $200.00), but a repair bill between approximately  $294.00 to $484.00.

He also probably cost himself a job.  If he were on one of my pedicabs, I would have fired him.

It is also important to remember that a 60 year old school teacher was thrown from a pedicab and died while riding in a pedicab being operated in a similar manner.  As a result of this, every pedicab company in the country is paying higher insurance rates and more than half of the pedicab drivers in San Diego lost their jobs after the city re-regulated the industry capping the number of cabs at 250.

Add this to the list of “things not to do while operating a pedicab.”

Oh, and  here is one more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tIjfHcuGsg

Most transportation accidents happen due to the operator making a mistake.  Pilots, Bus drivers, Taxi drivers, and Pedicab drivers make mistakes. On rare occasions, these mistakes can lead to injury accidents.  By in large, professionals responsible for the transportation of passengers are very safe and well trained.  Most of these professions have training programs that help to ensure that common accidents in their field can be avoided.

Currently, pedicab operators  in Austin are required to have a Texas drivers license, and a pedicab operators permit issued by the City of Austin.  These requirements alone make Austin’s pedicab operators better trained than those in many cities.  Additionally Austin pedicab divers are most usually  trained by the people that rent them a pedicab.  However, there is no standard for this extra industry specific training.  While many companies have very thorough training programs, some training programs are lacking, many are inconsistent, and most do not have a written curriculum.

There are established cyclist training courses that are designed to teach cyclists, young and old how to move safely through traffic.  Below are examples of such training programs in the US and England.

http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/education.htm

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5116

A very good book on safe cycling is “Effective Cycling” by John Forester.

I would argue that successful completion of such a training programs would have an even greater effect for a helping  pedicabbers avoid accidents than automobile operator training.  I believe that Pedicabbers should have both a drivers license and cycling training.  In doing so they would be best prepared to deal with cars in traffic as a cyclist.

As good as they are, the above cyclist training programs do not have any thing specific to pedicabs in them.  We pedicab operators face challenges that no other cyclists face.  We must be able to safely load, balance, start, transport, stop, and unload groups of passengers weighing several hundred pounds.  Sometimes we must do this on vehicles that may have been adapted from other uses to perform this task, such as a mountain bike pulling a trailer style pedicab.  While carrying passengers we usually travel at speeds slower than a normal bicycle.  We must be aware of areas, intersections and bridges that are known to be dangerous due to poor lighting or visibility.  We must also be aware of Austin pedicab “etiquette” regarding queuing locations, and where on east Sixth Street we are allowed to queue when the barricades are in place. All of this complexity is compounded by fact that pedicabbers provide the motive power to move our passengers, and when tired or dehydrated from this exertion, our judgment can become impaired.

All of this makes for a complex and challenging set of requirements that must be over come before we even begin to make money.  Pedicabbing looks like a simple job, but it is not.   Standardized training on the following topics is needed:

• An overview of the Austin pedicab rules in Austin city code chapter 13-2
• An overview of Texas laws that cover bicycles
• How to inspect your pedicab to ensure it is safe for operation
• General road safety as a slow moving vehicle
• Safely loading and unloading passengers
• Proper use of brakes to avoid collisions or sudden stops
• Line etiquette, why and how it works
• Proper queuing on Sixth street
• NO-GO areas to avoid serious injury accidents, such as the Congress and South first street bridges, the Fifth street hill between Nueces and San Antonio
• Austin specific laws regarding riding a bicycle on Downtown sidewalks.
• Better ways of interacting with Austin Police
• Company specific policies for charging fares or collecting “tips” from customers
• Better ways to interact with and attract customers.
• Avoiding impaired judgment from exhaustion while on the pedicab with proper nutrition, hydration and rest.
• Proper cycling ergonomics to avoid pain or discomfort which can in turn lead to distraction and accidents.

When I started this website a few years ago, I hoped to compile good information to help Austin pedicab owners and operators earn more money, operate more safely, and help the general public better understand the pedicab as a viable mode of transportation.  I had hoped that it might be a more or less formal outlet for information and public statements from Austin pedicabbers.   For good or for bad,  I have been the only contributor to this website.

Early on, I solicited articles from individual riders and pedicab company owners on topics like safety, good business practices, how to make more money as a driver, training etc.  Unfortunatly no one came through with their articles, and I tried to fill in the gaps as best I could.  I also never could seem to get a unified statement out of the other pedicab owners to address the issues that they faced.  We all seem to have too many competing interests.

Pedicabbers are a wily bunch, and they often don’t want to tell people their secrets, and the techniques that help them have an advantage.  Unfortunatly pedicabbers can often be their own worst enemies.  They will often engage in bad practices until they are forced to stop even if it is obvious to the casual observer that it is not working well.

All of this is why I am changing the focus of this website.  I have removed the overly presumptive word “Alliance” from the title, and substituted “News”.  This name is probably temporary.   I will likely be taking this blog site in to areas that are more technical, covering topics of safer pedicab construction techniques, better business practices, better pedicab driver training practices, better ways of dealing with customers, etc.

I may also take the blog into a more personal arena covering some of my frame building, and pedicab building projects.

I will continue to cover the news as best as I can, with the limited time that I have available.

SACRAMENTO — San Diego pedicab operators may soon have to prove they can drive a car before they can tote tourists around the Gaslamp Quarter.

The Assembly on Tuesday passed legislation that would allow the City Council to require a driver’s license as a condition of pedicab permits.

The 62-3 vote sent the bill to the governor, who has not taken a position.

“If you get into a pedicab, you’re putting your safety in the hands of someone else,” explained Assemblyman Marty Block, D-San Diego, who is carrying the legislation.

The measure is sponsored by the city of San Diego as part of a broader clampdown on pedicabs following the death of an Illinois tourist who fell out of one of the pedal-powered, rickshaw-like carriers July 4, 2009, along the Martin Luther King Promenade.

Read the rest of the story from the original source linked below:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/24/drivers-license-for-pedicabs-may-be-on-the-way/