Updated: 13 February 2013 | 6:25 am in conversations
Should pedicabs be allowed in downtown Cedar Rapids?
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A proposed Cedar Rapids pedicab service would feature two-wheeled or three-wheeled vehicles powered by pedals or motor to carry passengers in an area defined by the downtown, the Medical District, Coe College, New Bohemia, Czech Village and the Ellis Boulevard area.
Brad Larson, a planner in the city’s Community Development Department, said on Tuesday that two residents have asked to operate pedicabs in and near the downtown, and so the City Council is preparing on Tuesday to consider a new ordinance to regulate such a business in the city.
What do you think of the proposal to allow pedicabs in the downtown area of Cedar Rapids?
Rules of Engagement
Should pedicabs be allowed in downtown Cedar Rapids?
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It sounds like a great idea. Would they operate year round?
Of course. Who wouldn’t want to ride in a pedicab when it’s below freezing out (as it is at least three months out of each year here)? And let’s not forget the thrill factor of being in a lawn chair on three wheels in the midst of car/truck traffic trying to deal with roads slick with ice/slush/snow!
Whoever thought this up probably has a backup plan to introduce Hansom cabs and donkey carts to CR thoroughfares.
Sounds like a tort lawyer’s vision of heaven: these things offer absolutely no passenger protection from a rear-end collision with an automobile or truck, and they are too wide to safely “create their own” lanes as bicyclists do. They could work if all other motor traffic were banned from their designated operating area, but otherwise- no.
Are any other northern-climate cities using these things? If so, what is their record with them?
My initial reaction to this piece was twofold: (1) is The Gazette acquiring the Iowa franchise for The Onion; and (2) it’s still several weeks until April 1.
Oh yea of little imagination ! With pedicabs tourists will descend on the city in droves being transported at a leisurely pace whilst marveling at the City of Five Seasons sculpture, and the, um, or the, um, or, well all the “tourist sights”. Soon the riverfront will be called the “Bund” and Cedar Rapids will be referred to as “Shanghai on the Cedar”. It won’t need no stinking casino !
In keeping with CR’s “image” I propose that vintage tractors pulling converted hay wagons be allowed to ply the streets of downtown as a kind of “bus service”. These are quite popular at the state fair as parking lot shuttles and they almost never kill or maim their passengers.
Mr. Skidmore noted that the stable would have rental horses for those desiring to take a leisurely jaunt around the city’s many downtown historical sites, and would also provide stall rental for those downtown commuters who wish to ride their personal mounts to and from work each day.
Loved the lawn chair/slush/lawyers vision of heaven analogy. So funny!
Granted the pedicab would be weather permitting but haven’t you ever taken a horse drawn carriage ride in the winter? Maybe you would favor a trolley.
I own many (many! TOO MANY!!) horses and as pets I treasure them but I would never consider them or their cousins to be a reliable source of transportation. Especially in the winter.
I’m also a motorcycle fan but as such am well aware that a collision between a scoot and any 4-wheeler only has one outcome.
A trolley would be cool, but that political battle was fought back in the 40′s.
(The trolley-haters won. )
My apologies for hogging the comments. Some things just fall into your lap.
A pedicab is no substitute for convenient, free parking like one enjoys whenever they do business some place other than downtown.
Sir, you are clearly No Friend of Downtown! Methinks that you might even be that most despised of personages, a dweller in Hiawatha!
It is time Iowa and it’s cities took some lessons from other nations that provide cheaper transportation than we currently understand in America. Smaller engines, tight polution standards, safety inspections, and the will to produce a daily living wage could be a incentive for some folks who like to live their lives in a free-lance mode. It is worth an honest try for both the cities and those who think they might make it work by body poower or mechanical.
“It is time Iowa and it’s cities took some lessons from other nations that provide cheaper transportation than we currently understand in America.”
Sure. We should always aspire to be more like Third World countries. Rickshaw, away!
Wow someones chatty this a.m. Seems to work in NYC I’ve road in one and never feared for my life. If the private sector wants to give it a shot in the metropolis of CR, why not? Probably not while streets are snow and ice covered. Not sure how many would use but if they want to give it a shot why not?
They could be a nice addition. Cedar Rapids needs to make the roads more bicycle friendly, it’s clear there is an effort in that direction, this would help it along.