Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

End of road for pedicabs

County commissioners ban bicyclists from Strip, Paradise Road, other streets

Pedicabs no longer will be permitted to shuttle visitors up and down the Las Vegas Strip after Clark County commissioners voted Tuesday to ban them effective March 16.

The board ruled the proliferation of bicycle taxi companies on the Strip slows traffic and creates a danger to pedicab passengers. On sidewalks, pedicabs sometimes force pedestrians into the roadway.

"It is our duty to avoid injury and death," said Jacqueline Holloway, the county's business license director.

Pedicabs will be prohibited on the Strip between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue and 200 feet east of Las Vegas Boulevard on main thoroughfares. They also are banned from Paradise Road between Karen and Harmon avenues.

Pedicab operators see no reason to stay in business if they can't cruise the Strip.

Walter Christof Fuhrer is packing up Orient Express pedicab company, based in Santa Barbara, Calif. "There's no point. None," Fuhrer said of remaining in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police painted pedicab operators as unsavory characters who deal drugs, solicit prostitution and ignore traffic laws. Commissioners said they tie up traffic in congested tourist areas.

"I'm convinced that area is unsafe," Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said.

Fuhrer and other bicycle cabbies do not believe safety issues were all that prompted the board to pass the ordinance. Some pedicab operators said politically influential taxicab and limousine companies are threatened by bicycle taxis because they give tourists a convenient way to travel the Strip.

"One of the reasons they weren't listening to us is we pretty much support the tourists," Fuhrer said. "It's a tourist-based industry, and tourists don't vote in this town. Getting the public on our side is much more difficult."

Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, sole vote against the ordinance, suggested the county place more restrictions on pedicabs rather than forbid them from doing business on the Strip.

"I'm pretty sure there is a way to co-exist if there are proper ordinances," Kincaid-Chauncey said. "I have a problem with putting a whole type of business out of business."

Clark County did not regulate pedicabs before Tuesday. Operators' business licenses were under the category of equipment rental. Companies leased the pedicabs to bicyclists, who could make $100 a day suggesting the amount a passenger should tip.

Jim Huff, owner of Silver State pedicabs, said companies approached the county last summer and asked that it adopt regulations to weed out operators giving the industry a bad reputation. Those regulations also were approved Tuesday. Pedicab operators outside the restricted area must pay $75 for a business license, undergo a police background check and possess a valid driver's license.