By: Sandra A. Swanson August 10, 2009

Chicago – The city is contemplating a new set of rules that one entrepreneurial duo says would wreak havoc on its fledgling pedicab business.

For one thing, the proposed ordinance would forbid pedicabs from displaying advertising, “the largest form of income I have available,” argues Julia Samuels, 24, who operates Chicago Rickshaw LLC with partner Rob Tipton.

Chicago Rickshaw owns 20 pedicabs, which it rents to drivers. Those pedicabs now can display ads at a rate of about $150 per day, per vehicle — “real money I can count on,” Ms. Samuels says. “The legislation they have proposed can easily put us out of business in a matter of months.” (more…)

Tags: advertising, bicycle, Cabs, Chicago, downtown, Drivers, entrepreneur, fleet, Julia Samuels, Mr. Tipton, Ms. Samuels, Pedicab, pedicab business, Pedicab News, pedicab operators, pedicabs, rickshaw, Rob Tipton, Safety, traffic

By Neville Hawcock

On a bad day, cycling in London feels like dinosaurs versus mammals. You, the warm-blooded cyclist, may ultimately inherit the earth, but until then you run the grave risk of being squished by a lumbering, petrol-fuelled sauropod. You have the acceleration, the visibility, the manoeuvrability; they have the weight, the momentum, the airbags.

There are good days, of course, when pedalists and petrolheads give way to each other in a haze of goodwill. But they are rare. So it is with some trepidation that I approach BugBugs’ Holborn Viaduct lock-up. My task is to give one of its pedicabs a test-ride; and pedicabs – as their operators prefer to style these latter-day rickshaws – are the SUVs of London’s bike scene: big – maybe too big – and apt to provoke extremes of opinion. (more…)

Tags: bike scene, bikes, Cabs, driver, Drivers, drivers association, fun, London, Main Street, national cycling, NEW YORK, Operators, passenger, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, rickshaw, rickshaws, Safety, slow traffic, taxi drivers, test ride, traffic, trike, yellow cab

From Pedicabs to Peddling Cosmetics, Economy Pushes Some to Seek Extra Work

Shelby Shenkelman enjoys working as a pricing analyst for a company that produces airline meals. At 25, she is making more than $50,000 a year.”It should not be a bad salary,” she said. That is, unless you have $30,000 in student loans, a $300 a month car payment, some credit card debt, grocery bills that seem to be going up and rent that definitely is going up. “I can survive on my one paycheck, but it’s very, very difficult. It’s very, very tight,” the Reston resident said. In December, she decided to take a second job. Two nights during the week and on weekend days, she works as a personal shopper at a clothing store, earning $9 an hour plus commission.

With a grim economic outlook for 2009, more Americans are not just cutting costs but are finding ways to make more money by taking part-time or odd jobs, employers and economists said. Many are doing it because their wages have stalled while the cost of living has gone up. Others are picking up extra work to pay off debt or cushion their savings. For others, it’s a backup plan in case they get laid off from their full-time jobs.

(more…)

Tags: America, backup plan, Cabs, company, economic troubles, odd jobs, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, Safety, second job, TIG, traffic, US, ways to make more money, weekend, weekend jobs