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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By Andrea Sachs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2008; P06

Among the experiences that make one go “Eek!,” tooling around Manhattan in a rickshaw ranks high, falling somewhere between a cab ride during rush hour and walking through Times Square after the theaters let out. Some of the bike-drawn buggies come equipped with seat belts; others don’t. You decide your threshold of thrill.

“There’s a real rush going through traffic,” said Jacob Press, a tour guide with the Manhattan Rickshaw Co., the longest continuously operating pedicab outfit in New York City. “We can always find a way through.”

I have explored the City That Never Stops by foot, bus and bike. But on a recent trip, I wanted to sightsee in a vehicle that was intimate with the urban landscape but didn’t require any energy expenditure. So I called Manhattan Rickshaw a few days before my visit and booked Press and his quads.

Rickshaws are pervasive in Asia, where the economical bicycles with big back seats jostle for space among mopeds, cars, beasts of burden and swarms of pedestrians. In the United States, they’re more of a novelty than a necessity but are a rousing ride nonetheless. Though passengers are not as vulnerable as the biker, they’re still thrust into the chaotic street scene.

“It’s a combination of entertainment and transportation,” said Manhattan Rickshaw owner Peter Meitzler, who was instrumental in bringing pedicabs to New York. “It’s fun and environmental and fills a niche.”

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Tags: andrea sachs, bicycle, bicycles, billboard, Manhattan, manhattan rickshaw, NEW YORK, New York City, Newspaper, operator, Operators, passenger, pedestrians, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, rickshaws, romantic streak, route, rush hour, scene, seat belts, street scene, taxis, times square, traffic, Transport, urban landscape

Past Speaker: Startup Junkie Underground

SPEAKER: Steve Meyer – Founder and CEO Mainstreet Pedicab
DATE: August 20 & 22, 2007
TOPIC: Peddling Your Way to Success – The Mainstreet Pedicab Story

Pedicabs are human-powered taxis seen in many of the major cities around the world. They work well for not only transporting people, but also for the delivery of food and merchandise.

In a world that is becoming overwhelmed with too many cars, pedicabs offer a green and sometimes romantic alternative. While they work best over short distances ranging from 2 to 10 blocks, they are fully capable of traversing much greater distances.

Steve Meyer didn’t invent the pedicab, but he is in the process of perfecting the marketplace for it. With multiple income streams and a loyal following, the pedicab industry is breaking into new territory.

Here is what it took for Steve Meyer to become one of the leading figures in the pedicab industry, and how Donald Trump had a hand in his success.

Speaker: Steve Meyer is the Founder and CEO of Mainstreet Pedicab in Broomfield and has worked most of his professional life self-employed, interspersed with periods of employment.

He attended the University of Colorado from 1972 trough 1979 getting both a BA in Environmental Biology and an MA in Economics. He spent more than a year of this time traveling in S. America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

For many years, Meyer worked in the real estate industry doing economic and market research for real estate developers. His interest in the redevelopment of downtown areas and his experiences in Asia were key factors in his development of Main Street Pedicabs. Main Street was founded in 1992 and is the largest manufacturer of this type of vehicle in N. America.

Tags: America, Colorado, DaVinci, davinci institute, donald trump, Main Street, Main Street Pedicabs, manufacturer, multiple income streams, Press Releases, professional life, SPEAKER, Speaker Steve Meyer, steve meyer, Steve Meyer - Founder, Story, success speaker, taxis, Transport, university of colorado, Your Way

Published March 15, 2006 by RockyMountain News
By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

BROOMFIELD – Main Street Pedicabs has grown in fits and starts since Steve Meyer founded the company 14 years ago.

Based in this northern suburb of Denver, the company has turned out about 1,000 of its pedal-powered taxis throughout the years. But the rickshawlike contraptions have become a familiar sight in more and more downtown areas around the globe – most recently in Manhattan’s bustling, traffic-clogged Times Square.

Meyer, 52, hadn’t intended to start a business when he first bought a pedicab from an acquaintance in Aspen. But when he had trouble getting replacement parts for his hobby vehicle, he soon found himself trying to build a better one from scratch.

“I always kind of had a vision they could be used in America, but I didn’t know I was going to be the guy to do it,” said Meyer, who spent the early part of his career doing market research and planning for developers.

Initially, New Yorkers seemed reluctant to be seen in pedicabs. Like self-conscious teenagers, some requested they be dropped a block away from their destinations.

A spate of publicity has helped to spur acceptance.

A bright-yellow model is featured prominently on the cover of the Fodor’s New York City 2006, a guide to the city.

Contestants pedaled them a few months ago on NBC’s weight-loss show, The Biggest Loser. An appearance on The Apprentice two years ago helped to fuel interest.

But Main Street Pedicabs has grown in a number of directions from its manufacturing roots. Selling advertising space on the back of the taxis has become a significant part of the business. And Meyer is a co-owner of several pedicab-operating companies around the country, including Mile High Pedicabs in Denver.

“I make more money operating a pedicab than making one,” he said.

“The business works for us because we’re involved in so many facets of it,” Meyer said Tuesday in his newly expanded office, which still smelled strongly of a fresh coat of green paint.

Meyer gets help from his wife, Ruth Vanderkooi, when she’s not tending to her family medical practice. Otherwise, he has just a few full-time employees who assemble the pedicabs one at a time in space above the company’s offices.

As Meyer sits at his computer, he sees a call coming in from Tel Aviv, Israel, where he has been talking to someone who wants to buy a couple of the pedicabs for his own personal use.

Individuals increasingly have been buying the pedicabs to use in town or to get around islands where parking is scarce.

The pedicabs start at $2,900 but can cost as much $5,000 with all the options. They are built like mountain bikes, with 21 speeds, and have a cushioned carriage in the rear for toting passengers.

Meyer, who grew up in Boulder, said he is often questioned about whether he pursued pedicabs because of environmental concerns. But he insists his main motivation is “improving the quality of life” in cities. “I’d rather promote something than list all the things I’m against,” he said.

In Denver, pedicabs tend to operate on nights and weekends, during ballgames and other events that require people to walk several blocks from parking areas or light-rail stops.

“They add a real vitality to downtown,” said Tami Door, president of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “People like it because it’s fun. Downtowns should be fun.”

Ed Oliver, who is Meyer’s partner in the Denver pedicab operation, said he often drives a pedicab around the Pepsi Center parking lot, offering free rides during events. In most cases, passengers wind up tipping him at least $5 a ride.

“People hate walking across parking lots,” Meyer said.

With a new St. Louis Cardinals ballpark set to open in April, a budding pedicab operator awaits her order from Main Street Pedicabs.

“We want to get a business started just to and fro,” said St. Louis resident Jill Saettele, an avid cyclist who found Main Street Pedicabs on the Internet. “The parking (at the new stadium) is very limited, so they’re doing shuttles. This is the most fantastic opportunity.”

The pedicabs have caught on most in urban environments, but have also captured the attention of an array of communities with a shortage of downtown parking.

Meyer initially thought Aspen might be a good market. “But nobody who would drive one could afford to live in Aspen,” he said.

A new customer from Crested Butte picked one up Monday, with hopes of building a following in the ski town.

Long Beach, Calif., is about to get a fleet of pedicabs for its downtown.

“It’s part of the overall eclectic experience we’re trying to create,” said Kraig Kojian, president of Downtown Long Beach Associates, the improvement district for the oceanfront community. “We don’t have seasons, so people can enjoy the experience throughout the year.”

Main Street Pedicabs

• Home base: Broomfield

• Founded: 1992

• Products: Bicycle-powered taxis selling for between $2,900 and $5,000, with all the options

• Markets: Urban areas such as New York City, Denver, London, Paris and others

Tags: apprentice, bicycle, Denver, downtown denver, Long Beach, Main Street, Main Street Pedicabs, Manhattan, nbc, NEW YORK, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, pepsi center, rickshaw, rocky mountain news, selling advertising, steve meyer, street pedicabs, taxis, times square

By LESLIE EATON
A little more than a year ago, Jens Rasmussen said, he was an executive recruiter who hired accountants. That was before he rashly left his job without lining up another, and spent a month discovering just how tough it was to find work in New York.

Today, his business card reads: Three Wheeled Warrior, one of those bicycle-powered rickshaws you see all over Midtown Manhattan, especially in the theater districts.

And despite the slow economy, Mr. Rasmussen and other drivers say, business is good. The tourists are back, tips are still generous, and regular taxis remain hard to come by at rush hour and in the rain, when bike-cabbies attract impatient New Yorkers into their off-beat, three-wheeled vehicles.

Indeed, the biggest problem for pedicab drivers these days seems to be competition. A new company, Manhattan Pedicab, opened in May with 11 cabs, bringing to three the number of companies that lease the bicycle taxis to the drivers.

The largest, Pedicabs of New York, has 40 vehicles, and George Bliss, the company’s owner, estimates that there are more than 60 pedicabs on the streets, up from zero before he opened in 1995. The third company, Peter Meitzler’s Manhattan Rickshaw, also opened that year.

And there are plenty of people willing to push the pedals, which Mr. Bliss said is related to the recession. ”We’re turning people away a lot,” he said. ”People are over-qualified, and they just need to bring in some money.”

Because pedicab drivers can set their own hours, he continued, ”it’s convenient for people who are between jobs, and it’s more interesting than bartending or waiting tables.” Leasing a cab costs $30 to $40 a day, he said, and includes liability insurance.

On average, rides cost $10 to $20. The drivers negotiate a price, and on a really good night, they say, they can make as much as $400. But there are slow times, and this year business has been more erratic than in the past, said Henry Munoz, a six-year veteran.

”Last year was like this,” he said, drawing a straight line through the air with his hand. ”This year, you’re up, you’re down.” The cabs did a lot of business late last year, when they were among the few vehicles that coould get around in Lower Manhattan; today, ground zero is still a popular destination. Drivers say about half their passengers are New Yorkers, not tourists.

As pedicabs have become familiar sights in Manhattan, it has become easier to persuade people to climb aboard, said Dorothy S. Chen, 21, who has driven a ‘trike” off and on for three years, and now does it full time. But there is a lot more competition, espcially around Broadway (outside the theater for ”Beauty and the Beast” is her favorite place to find passengers). ”Now we have to do a lot more hustling,” she said.

Ms. Cheng, who describes herself as ”102 pounds, four-foot-ten and three-quarters,” is proof that size is not a prerequisite for becoming a pedicabbie.

What is necessary is salesmanship. Some of the drivers take the aggressive route. ”They’ll pull up to people and say, ‘Get in, let’s go,’ ” said Arthur J. Nichols, who started Manhattan Pedicab after years in the horse-drawn carriage business.

Others take a different tack to distinguish themselves. Richard A. Sanford, 54, a retired schoolteacher from Brooklyn, was busily waxing and cleaning his trike last Wednesday before going out in the afternoon. He decorated the cab with signs, banners and flashing lights, and adorned himself with a stylish black cap and fluorescent tie.

For Mr. Sanford, a bicycle enthusiast, driving the cab is a labor of love; the same is true for Mr. Bliss, who loathes cars and designs alternative transportation vehicles. In fact, Mr. Bliss likes his current location, on Broome Street at the corner of Thompson, because ”we’re right here in the face of traffic jams on the way to Holland Tunnel,” he said. ”We make a statement that you have other options.”

Thursday through Sunday, he sells some of those options, including bikes and scooters. But since the trade center attack, retail business in SoHo has dropped off. And so, somewhat to his surprise, the now-profitable pedicab business is actually keeping him afloat.

Mr. Rasmussen, the former headhunter, also sounds surprised about his new career, which he began after Sept. 11 last year. ”It turns out I like this a lot better,” he said, waving to a former passenger flying by on a bicycle. ”All things considered, it’s been good.”
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