As it is, they aren’t going to compete well with intra- and inter-city options that MUNI, BART, and motorized taxis provide. They also cost more than your own bike rental.

As a conveyance for tourists through limited areas, they’re scraping a decent business, but remain a lot smaller than either rental bikes or rental scooter-vehicles used by tourists. Pedicabs could operate successfully for similar business in GG Park, parts of the Avenues, even the Mission and parts of SOMA – but it has a large question mark hanging over it.

As a distributed fleet in support of major BART and MUNI stops for everyday use and heavy shopping loads, I doubt they’ll ever be price-competitive. You’d need a lot of them, in the absence of inexpensive motor-taxis (who have all the advantages now), to get labor costs down to a price a consumer can haggle for.

It seems to me that if a hotel were to want pedicabs as a service option for their room-stay customers, it would be a relatively simple matter for a modified permit and a different space arrangement along their front.

Taxi cabs making money on our streets are not restricted; cars doubled park in traffic and bicycle lanes, park in driveways and on the sidewalk all the time should get tickets.

And what a privilege it is to use public streets and sidewalks, SF Pedicabs pays City taxes and the SF Port a whopping 10% of its gross revenue to stage on the Embarcadero.

Until the City implements the excellent balance for Better Streets and a Livable City plan. along the Embarcadero, creating multi use paths, a safe and healthy place where seniors and parents with there children could walk or ride – away from car traffic, noise and pollutions – there will be no improvements to our city’s environmental and economic health. The jewels of our city will be tarnished by massive car congestion, pollution and noise – not pretty site for locals or visitors.

Keith Saggers has been the only pedicabs owner to create a sustainable business and jobs for 15 drivers for the past 20 years! SF Pedicabs is part of the solution, a people powered fun ride that is a safe and healthy form of transportation – and one of the best way to see The City!

When all else stops, pedicabs can quickly transport locals and tourist to San Francisco businesses, plus our great cities hidden jewels! That is why at the MTA/ISCOTT meeting, with a SFPD representative at the table, the extended route to Moscone Center was approved – only to have, once again, a road block set up by the SFPD permits department.

Carolyn Blair:
40 year SF waterfront resident, pedestrian, bicyclist,
and now a senior who still like to ride on car free Sunday.

http://bikescape.blogspot.com/2008/07/pedicab-solution.html

Let’s remind the taxi cab drivers of this fact. Can we ask to restrict their routes as well and keep them off Market, Oak and Fell, and the Wiggle? Makes more sense then restricting pedi cabs – taxi cabs are far more dangerous.

If new york can have pedicabs and horse drawn carriages on the streets, I think we can manage to find a way to have a few more pedicabs on our streets.

But as for the pedicabs, most of the time they are out of the way, but this isn’t always the case. I don’t really see how they can get other routes if their main pick up points are the Ferry Building and Pier 39 – they are blocked in by Telegraph Hill and Fort Mason, there really isn’t anything to the south (save ATT Park).

That pretty much sums up why the relationship is uneasy to begin with. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. I’m sure that even the SFBC can agree with that.