Explanation
BACKGROUND: This ordinance enacts new City Code to establish licensing requirements and regulations for pedicabs operating as vehicles for hire in Columbus.
Since April 2012, the City has been working to comprehensively modernize the entire Vehicle for Hire code, Chapters 585-594, which currently regulates for-hire vehicles such as taxicabs, livery vehicles and horse carriages. Pedicabs are a new, growing form of for-hire transportation in Columbus and previously have not been regulated. In February 2013, the City began meeting with local pedicab owners to discuss creating a new Chapter of our City Code to regulate pedicabs. In the following months, City representatives met with pedicab owners to gain a better understanding of the daily operations of pedicab owners and drivers. The City worked with the pedicab industry to devise safe, fair and supportive regulations that are also consistent with the City’s overarching requirements for the entire vehicle for hire industry.
The new Pedicab code establishes licensing requirements and vehicle standards, including turn signals, reflective signage, and a unibody frame to ensure the safety of passengers and drivers. It also establishes maximum fare rates. Additionally, pedicabs will be required to post a sign informing riders of the City’s helmet laws as they apply to minors. Pedicabs will be incorporated into the Vehicle for Hire code and have representation on the Vehicle for Hire Board.
Pedicabs are an emerging industry in Columbus with a vested interest in ensuring that the public has a safe, successful experience that reflects well on the industry as a whole. This code will establish regulations that will provide legitimacy for the industry, better safety for pedicab riders and drivers, ensure consistent enforcement, and help this industry become yet another highlight for Columbus.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Title
To amend Title 5 of the Columbus City Code by enacting new Chapter 592, entitled “Pedi...
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