This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
News / Bikes City Moves to Regulate Pedicabs
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Unlike taxis, limos and towncars, Portland's pedicabs are completely unregulated by the city. But today the board of Portland's Private For-Hire Transportation Board voted to approve regulations that will bring pedicab training and licensing under city control for the first time. The board was not originally planning to regulate pedicabs when it embarked on the year-long process of overhauling its Private For-Hire Transportation Regulations but, as planner Frank Dufay put it, "It just kept coming up."
Portland has seen an explosion of pedicabs recently. A few years ago, says Rose Pedal pedicabs owner Casey Martell, there were only three or four bike powered cabs in the city, most going out just in the summer. Last March, Cascadia Cabs moved into town with over a dozen cabs running year round. With more cabs come more safety concerns. A Cascadia Cabs crash in Seattle this summer killed a 60-year-old passenger.
"I want the citizens of Portland to know that we're a legitimate form of transportation, we're not just punk kids welding tricycles together," says Ryan Hashagen, who owns the multi-city Cascadia Cabs. "But they basically just took the taxi regulations and applied them to pedicabs. They fit us into the code and they didn't put a lot of thought into it." Today at the meeting on the regulations, Hashagen spoke out forcefully against the city's rules. "These regulations will effectively eliminate pedicabs from the city," Hashagen said, asking the board to drop pedicabs from the code and assemble a pedicab specific task force. He complained that the process had not been transparent.
"For the record, will you note that the last speaker was invited to attend [a meeting with us] about eight weeks ago," replied board member Sue Kloberantz sharply. "I wasn't aware of that!" shouted Hashagen from the crowd, "I never received any emails!"
"We're not looking to keep people from making a living, we're watching out for public safety," explains board member Dufay. Under the new regulations, pedicab drivers will have to complete a city-approved driver safety and customer service class and pass a test on Portland geography, tourist attractions and traffic laws. They will also pay $50 for an official permit, which the city can deny if the driver has arrests on his or her record. Hashagen worried that requirement would ban some of his drivers. "Individuals use this job as a stepping stone, they don't all have clean records," says Hashagen.
But Dufay says each application will be evaluated individually. "We're not really concerned if someone got busted for pot seven years ago in college, but if someone's been convicted for assaulting a person, that's a bigger issue," says Dufay.
Much more on the regulations + other pedicab owners' opinions below the cut!
Part of the issue is that the draft regulations have been frequently rewritten during the process. The version of the regulations available Monday on the city's website required pedicab drivers to have a valid drivers license and individual insurance. Hashagen says these two rules would knock him out of business (60 percent of his riders don't have driver's licenses) and estimates insurance would cost each rider $2200 a year. Upon arriving at the meeting today, pedicabbers learned the board had decided to nix the drivers license rule, now requiring riders to need only a valid state ID. The insurance question is still up for debate, pending more research. Hashagen frantically paged through the regulations to see what else had changed before the comment period opened. One member of the board and several town car/taxi owners raised the same concern about routinely receiving final drafts of regulations at the last minute.
At today's packed final meeting on the regulations, the different driver demographics were clear: mostly older male limo drivers took up two rows of seats (bluetooth cell phones, leather jackets proliferating) and one row of seats was lined with scruffy-haired pedicab pedalers in bright colors, lacy tights and bike helmets.
"I'm definitely down with keeping it safe, that's awesome," said Luna Littleleaf, who bought a pedicab on eBay with plans to start an independent pedicab company this summer and is in favor of most of the regulations. Rose Pedal Pedicabs owner Casey Martell has no problem with any of the regulations and also felt good about the city process that created them. "It was bound to happen one day and it's cool that they're letting us get in there and have a say about it," says Martell.
The regulations will go before city council on May 6th. The rules won't likely go into effect until September at the earliest.
2
Bikes on sidewalks are only prohibited in the downtown area. That does not include the Pearl.
Bikes are allowed on sidewalks in all other part of the city, as long as they are operating at a walking speed and yield to pedestrians.
That dosn't mean I think pedicabs should be biking on sidewalks because of their size. Parking, no prob, if they are parked on the sidewalks there is more room for cars to park on the street.
I don't see why someone who is being paid to move other people around in a vehicle ( motorized or non) should be exempt form some form of regulation. I do think pedicabs should not have the same regulations as a cab would...since it is not a car, but the driver should be just as educated and licensed as a cabbie...I would think it would add credibility and respectability to a green form of people moving.
I am all for pedicabs! But operators should have to know the laws of the roads regarding bikes and cars (just like I do as a cyclist or a driver) and be knowledgeable of the lay of the land. Licensing for people who are responsible for other people's well being while in there vehicle for financial gain, well, should have a license of some sort. People who cut your hair are licensed! People who serve you food and alcohol are licensed, we license all kinds of things for the safety of the public. It's a good thing.
3
"Sorry "Stay off the sidewalks",
Bikes on sidewalks are only prohibited in the downtown area. That does not include the Pearl."
please do try to know what the fuck you're talking about. It makes it a lot easier to take your opinions on pedicab matter seriously. Portland ordinance 16.70.320E is as good a start as any.
4
That ordinance only applies to downtown.
"Within the area bounded by and including SW Jefferson, Front Avenue, NW Hoyt and 13th ave."
I was ignorant of one fact: that the Pearl to Hoyt is included in that area, of that I didn't know, I thought the cut off for downtown was Burnside. I was off by a few blocks. I concede that.
But you can indeed ride your bike on the sidewalk in all other areas of Portland.
Weather or not that makes me a slut well, you can have your wet dreams.
6
7
While pedicabbing can be a stepping stone up from harder times, so can any other job. The difference is that this industry is likely to be regulated by the city. The city will not want to have to deal with any and all riff-raff that can pedal a tricycle.
From my experience requiring a valid driver's license and a cleanish criminal background will only servr to help the industry in the long term. Keeping out former sex offenders, drug dealers, drunk drivers, thieves, and violent offenders may impact the current batch of pedicab drivers, but do you really want your industry to be come a refuge of folks who have been recently paroled and are unemployable in other industries?
Do you really want to be working with the criminal class? By keeping out the riff-raff, your industry will look far more professional. The growth of your industry will be based on much more solid foundation.
Do also consider that if the draft ordinance does not include vehicle inspection standards, it should. Requirements for rear safety lighting (multiple bike blinkies or better) slow moving vehicle triangles, Front light of some sort, wheel integrity, reflectors functional brakes will go along way toward making your vehicles appear more professional and be safer on the streets.
Do also consider that some of the insurance underwriters that will cover pedicab businesses are going to have more stringent requirements than these. Turn signals, no open toed shoes, uniform shirts for the riders, riders must be employees, not contractors, riders must be 21 years old or older, and a criminal background check are now common insurance company requirements. It might be worth while to incorporate the typical requirements put forth by an insurance company in to the city requirements.
In short do not fear reasonable regulations. Do your best to help craft the regulations so that it is reasonable, and then rise to the occasion. Your industry will benefit and will grow steadily because of the hard work you folks do now.
8
While pedicabbing can be a stepping stone up from harder times, so can any other job. The difference is that this industry is likely to be regulated by the city. The city will not want to have to deal with any and all riff-raff that can pedal a tricycle.
Requiring a valid driver's license and a cleanish criminal background will only serve to help the industry in the long term. Keeping out former sex offenders, drug dealers, drunk drivers, thieves, and violent offenders may impact the current batch of pedicab drivers, but do you really want your industry to be come a refuge of folks who have been recently paroled and are unemployable in other industries?
Do you really want to be working with the criminal class? By keeping out the riff-raff, your industry will look far more professional. The growth of your industry will be based on much more solid foundation.
Do also consider that if the draft ordinance does not include vehicle inspection standards, it should. Requirements for rear safety lighting (multiple bike blinkies or better) slow moving vehicle triangles, Front light of some sort, wheel integrity, reflectors functional brakes will go along way toward making your vehicles appear more professional and be safer on the streets.
Do also consider that some of the insurance underwriters that will cover pedicab businesses are going to have more stringent requirements than the ones proposed by the city. Turn signals, no open toed shoes, uniform shirts for the riders, riders must be employees, not contractors, riders must be 21 years old or older, and a criminal background check are now common insurance company requirements. It might be worth while to incorporate the typical requirements put forth by an insurance company in to the city requirements.
In short do not fear reasonable regulations. Do your best to help craft the regulations so that it is reasonable, and then rise to the occasion. Your industry will benefit and will grow steadily because of the hard work you folks do now.
9
Oh Ken, please tell me about this special class of people who are prone to committing crimes. Show me some fancy numbers about cranium size, and brow shape, and so on.
Hilarious.
12
Now, are there problems in the industry that could be solved with regulations? The fact that passengers are dieing sure sounds like it, but I don't know the rest of the story there. Are passengers dieing because of equipment problems or driver problems, or both? I don't know. Requiring a driver's license seems a little odd, they aren't driving cars, but it may be the best proxy for "knowledge of traffic laws," so it isn't completely out of the question. (Maybe there should be a way around it: You could take the pedicab down to the DMV and then take the standard driver's test in the pedicab, and get a special license.) Background checks are pretty standard in most industries/companies, so that isn't out of the question. (I think they should decriminalize minor drug offenses anyways, so I can see some room for leniency there. But if you are an axe murderer, you shouldn't be pedaling people around town.) Knowledge of local geography is a must, but I can't see any self respecting pedicab business hiring people that didn't know their way around downtown. However, if they are, then they should make that part of the regulation. Equipment standards seems like a pretty good thing too, if that is a problem the industry is having.
13
Since that time Cascadia Pedicabs has completely re-evaluated our training process to include a two-tiered interview process, more extensive training and a mentor process wherein we pair the new rider with an experienced rider.
We are actually excited about getting regulated as it establishes a place in the city for pedicabs for many years to come. Our only concern is to make sure these codes are realistic for a green, pedal-powered mode of transportation. Pedicabs should not be required to have things like fire extinguishers on board. A cut and paste approach to city code writing by the Revenue Bureau makes me, for one, a bit uncomfortable.
-Rainbow- Portland Cascadia Pedicabs
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