Am I the last person in the western hemisphere to find out that the pedicab, known in Far East since the 30s as the cheapest means of city transportation, has made it big in the urban US? After 11 years on the streets in the Big Apple, there are enough of these bicycle-drawn passenger vehicles to rile the City Council into regulating them and banning the ones with electric motors. The spoilsports. The New York horsedrawn carriage and taxi trades are complaining that pedicabs cut into their business without having the expense of licenses and insurance.

Pedicabs are also beginning to tote tourists in downtown Portland, OR, Denver and Ft. Lauderdale, as well as in Spain, Denmark, England, Israel and Canada. Most carry two people, but there’s a four-passenger pedicab being operated in Phoenix. They’re even emblazoned with advertising, like taxis and buses.

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Tags: advertising, bicycle, bicycle messengers, Cabs, Canada, city streets, city transportation, Denmark, Denver, Drivers, Electric, England, Financial District, horsedrawn carriage, Israel, La Paz, Legs, Main Street, Main Street Pedicabs, Mazatlan, NEW YORK, passenger, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Spain, taxis, Transport, transportation, US

by Gary Koenig, Denver Cycling Examiner

If you’re like me, you’ve invested more than a few idle minutes thinking about being a professional cyclist. What could be better than getting paid to ride all day long? Daydreams are fun, but sober reflection on the shrinking nature of the pro pelotons, both worldwide and domestic, would lead most of us to conclude that cycling for a living is not realistically in our future.

So what if I told you that I could get you a paying cycling job tomorrow? That you would enjoy the consummate cosmopolitan benefits just as other top cycling pros do. And to top it off, even though you’ll be riding 6-8 hours per day, you’ll never have to tackle a hill and headwinds will be as rare as a 12 ounce Ruth’s Chris ribeye. Furthermore, you’ll never have to answer to a surly directeur sportif who doesn’t even speak your language, never have to sacrifice your legs for an ungrateful prima donna team leader and never suffer the ignominy of watching an Italian gregario who has been latched onto your wheel for untold kilometers suddenly bolt by you to win a Grand Tour stage that so rightfully belonged to you.

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Tags: 16th street mall, bicycling, company, Denver, driver, fun, future, Main Street Pedicabs, pedicab driver, pedicab drivers, Pedicab News, pedicabs, professional cyclist, street pedicabs, traffic

DENVER – As more than 50,000 visitors hit the streets of Denver for the Democratic National Convention, there seems to be one color that keeps coming to mind: green.

Convention planners and the city of Denver are making sure this once-in-a-lifetime event is as eco-friendly as possible.

For Casey Bobay, co-owner of Mile High Pedi-cabs, green is creating green and pedal power is paying off.

“We’ve been doing round about 17-hour days during the DNC. We’re the most convenient green-friendly transportation down here right now .Yesterday, I had 42 missed calls in an hour of people wanting rides,” said Bobay.

Kirk Dornbush is from Atlanta. He says it cost $12 to go roughly a mile in a pedi-cab.

“Pedi-cabs are lean, green, convertible machines. They are the only way to go, it’s just awesome. They are quick. The drivers are courteous and it’s a green way to get around the city. I have not taken a fuel-burning cab yet and I will not. The pedi-cabs are the only way to go,” said Dornbush.

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Tags: better business, bike lane, Cabs, city of denver, convention planners, delegates, democratic national convention, Denver, DNC, driver, lifetime event, Pedicab News, traffic, transportation

BY NICK BOHNENKAMP
Of all the things happening during the DNC, I have been given the task of rounding up a group of volunteers to pick up trash, using pedicabs, from the seven FreeWheelin’ Way to Go bike stations in Denver. And let me tell you, it’s pretty rad. It’s all part of the 1000 Humana/Bikes Belong bikes that are now in place. The picture is of me getting rad on the pedicab. These things are so much fun to ride.

Tags: bikes, Denver, DNC, freewheelin, fun, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, picking up trash, volunteers

Ice cream cones and X-ray machines were popularized at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Will “pedicabs” – those passenger carts pulled by bicycle riders – be mainstreamed by the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver?

Big events like conventions and fairs offer entrepreneurs a big opportunity to get their new inventions exposure to lots of people in a short period of time. Entrepreneurs can very quickly see whether there’s demand for their goods and get real-time feedback. (Giving away free product can also be a good way to generate buzz at big events, as I wrote last week.)

Today, my colleague Stephanie Simon highlights how Denver pedicab companies hope the Democratic National Convention will be their chance to show consumers the wonders of being driven by a bicycle rickshaw rather than a gas-guzzling taxi cab on short trips.

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Tags: bicycle riders, bicycling, convention goers, democratic national convention, Denver, Michael Phelps, new inventions, passenger, Pedicab, pedicab drivers, Pedicab News, rickshaw, St. Louis, Stephanie Simon, taxi cab

For the high-rollers – or Green-minded Dems – arriving here for the Democratic National Convention, $2-per-block is probably chump change.
The price should provide big business, especially if the requested going rate gives delegates and visitors the vantage point of riding in a pedicab in an area around the Pepsi Center, which will be tricky to navigate.

“We think it’s going to be huge,” says Casey Bobay, co-owner with Chuck Henry of Rocket Bike Cabs and managers of Mile High Pedicabs.

Under their various groups, they have assembled a fleet of about 40 of the three-wheeled vehicles. Even Mayor John Hickenlooper has given the pedicabs a shout out as a good way for Denver to haul conventioneers around during the DNC. As the mayor says, they’re people-powered and the drivers are hard working. Pedicabs also obtained a national level of cool, when presidential wannabe Stephen Colbert showed up on “The Daily Show” being pulled by a driver in a red-white-and-blue Uncle Sam outfit as a bemused Jon Stewart looked on.

Who knows if Uncle Sam will be on hand come Aug. 25? Bobay says they expect to go “24/7” during the week surrounding the convention. He might even lend a foot to the fleet. The average trip, he notes, is between eight and 10 blocks – so even the wealthiest visitors can’t go to DIA or the Foothills. Instead, the Pepsi Center, Invesco and the 16th Street Mall are the most likely destinations.

And while there has been some friction in the pedicab community between drivers and venues they see to visit, Bobay says he believes things should be OK. It’s not just a free-for-all. A check of the Mile High Pedicab homepage reveals a solid history, noting “Mile High pedicabs is the offspring of Main Street Pedicabs, the largest manufacturer of pedicabs in North America. These modern day pedicabs use the technology of 21-speed mountain bikes, rear hydraulic brakes for safe braking, and rear axle differentials for tight turning.” Further, pedicabs are licensed by the city. Still, there could be some interlopers.

“I don’t know if we can avoid some pirates showing up,” Bobay explains. He says they’ll deal with that if it happens as best as they can.

Yet given the travel complications in some areas, Bobay and his team appear to be banking on plenty of customers, bent on making the Green Dem scene. So Obamapalooza watchers, keep an eye out. You probably won’t see the likes of Sen. Barack Obama or celebs such as Ben Affleck in a pedicab, but you might glimpse Stewart, Colbert — of some guy called Uncle Sam.

Tags: 16th street mall, Ben Affleck, Cabs, community, democratic national convention, Denver, DNC, Green-minded, hydraulic brakes, invesco, Jon Stewart, Main Street, North America, Obamapalooza, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pepsi center, stephen colbert, street pedicabs, three wheeled vehicles