Area Officials Consider Stricter Rickshaw Rules

Whether you call them pedicabs or rickshaws, peddlers in Chicago may soon face a list of new regulations, thanks to an ordinance introduced to City Council last week.

Attempts to regulate the growing industry have failed twice in the past, with the biggest point of contention being a rule that prohibits pedicabs from operating in the Loop during rush hour, WBEZ writes. Some see the two-person tricycles as a cause for downtown gridlock.

But with 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney's newly proposed ordinance leaving that issue off the table, it may stand a chance.

“This ordinance is long overdue,” he said, in a statement. “Pedicabs have been operating in the city for years as an unregulated and unlicensed business. While pedicabs are a unique and green transpiration option for residents and visitors to our city, they are also the only business activity not licensed under city code.”

Things like adding a standardized way to charge passengers is one rule Tunney says he wants to add, hopefully legitimizing the industry. WBEZ found that “drivers” currently charge customers based on weather, terrain, weight of the passengers and even how much they personally liked the riders. In New York City, passengers are charged by the minute.

Tunney wants peddlers, commonly found around Wrigley Field, Lincoln Park Zoo, and other North Side hotspots to follow these rules: 

• Licenses must be obtained to operate a pedicab business
• Owners are required to have liability insurance to qualify for a license
• Each pedicab used in a pedicab business has to have a registration decal and meet safety standards
• Owners are required to post a fare schedule

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The short list of rules is something key to the ordinance as well, steering clear from creating a situation similar to the recent ordinance that some say overregulates Chicago’s food truck industry.

“I believe that this ordinance strikes a balance that will allow the pedicab industry to flourish while preserving safety in our city,” Tunney said. “… This ordinance will help legitimize the industry, increase public safety and improve the safe flow of traffic on our congested streets. This aims to make the pedicab industry in the City of Chicago operate as safely and responsibly as possible.”

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