On Wed, 2012-12-19 at 11:53 +0000, Peter Wood wrote:
> Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) wants to ban rickshaws.
>
> Anyone have interesting thoughts or evidence on the subject?
>
Hmmm. Further thoughts: perhaps motor-taxis should be banned due to
their antisocial habit of being driven around Soho at inappropriate
speed and drivers scaring the crap out of pedestrians by crossing Oxford
Street whilst leaning on their horns and having no intention to stop.
These idiots are just downright antisocial *and* dangerous.
Whilst we're at it, let's introduce a Copenhagen-style foot-street
system, making the whole of Soho, Covent Garden and large areas around
Oxford Street a place for people and not motor vehicles.
The area's quite big, so rickshaws would fit in very well, rather than
being buffeted about by bully drivers and being forced up onto footways
to keep out of the way. They could perform passenger and goods carrying
functions.
Rickshaw operations can work very well IMHO, but they do need to be
licensed. AFAIK, a few years ago this discussion came up and BugBugs,
the original operator, expressed support for a licensing system which
would require a certain standard of behaviour and conduct and a system
for people to make complaints.
As a former rickshaw operator (Salisbury, 1994-6)) I can say I benefited
greatly from the license I held for my lone vehicle, issued as it was
under the Town Police Clauses Act of Eighteen-fifty-something. My route
and limitations were discussed and agreed with the council, which also
monitored any feedback from the public--there was nothing adverse. At
first I had objections from taxi operators, but I talked with them,
explaining that I would only take a tiny proportion of their short fares
and arranged that I would carry their business cards and encourage the
public to use them to visit Stonehenge.
Boris's concern I guess is less about licensing and more about the
operation of typical rickshaw businesses which is on a self-employed
"hire a bike for a day and see what you make" basis. You don't need any
qualifications other than the ability to ride a tricycle, and so the
thing is open to anyone--scrupulous or otherwise. If I approached Boris
and said: "License me. I'll agree some rules with you, on fares, routes,
area operated and how to treat the public" I'd probably get a hearing in
principle.
I've occasionally thought about running a single-fare service between
Covent Garden and Oxford Street using a fleet of 20 vehicles running
every couple of minutes, as a form of proper public transport but with
the option for passengers of leaving the route for a set additional
charge.
I think rickshaws (or more properly pedicabs) can, if managed properly
and with a robust set of rules in place, could contribute greatly to
making our cities more civilised places for people. If it's a choice
between car-infestation or bicycle and rickshaw-infestation in our
cities, then I know which I would prefer.
Cheers
Richard.
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