'Rickshaw' service in downtown Omaha

[eomaha]

I guess a month ago I saw a bunch of these yellow 'rickshaw' bicycles inside a garage north of the interstate... now I guess they're peddling all over downtown...


From the World Herald...

Pedicabs hit Omaha

James and Anna Foster are peddled to their destination in a rickshaw operated by Joe Skreczko. The pedicabs service the Old Market and riverfront area. The cost of the ride varies according to length of trip and also the incline of the street.

After 150 years, new riverfront developments like Lewis & Clark Landing and Qwest Center Omaha have readied you to receive that three-wheeled hallmark of cosmopolitan cities everywhere: the pedicab.

Omaha Riverfront Rickshaw co-owner Fred Franklin launched the company in May with his partner, Jesse Statham, after seeing how the business had prospered in other cities.

"We served in an opportunity similar to this in Denver and - being very proud residents of the city of Omaha - thought it would be a great addition to downtown," said Statham, the company's general manager.

Together they have launched a fleet of 10 yellow pedicabs, staffed by a rotation of 15 drivers. The 21-speed bicycles pull carriages that can hold one or two passengers on soft leather seats. The carriages are equipped with seat belts and retractable covers to protect passengers in case of rain.

Tina Bartek, a pedicab driver, works in the Old Market on weekends. She drove pedicabs in San Diego.

"There's a lot more tourism there, but there's also a lot more competition," she said, noting that working among San Diego's six other rickshaw companies made turning a profit harder.

Bartek, like most of the drivers, is talkative and outgoing. While midsummer's hot, humid nights regularly dampen the drivers' yellow uniform shirts, they certainly don't dampen their spirits.

"I'm here for exercise and to meet people and have fun," said Yano Jones, an enthusiastic pedicab driver and former defensive back for the Omaha Beef indoor football team. "The kids just go crazy, they love it. It puts a smile on your face."

Some customers, however, have been wary of the new vehicles, Jones said.

"A lot of people don't think it is a legitimate business. I had to give a 15-minute spiel to one couple to explain this is an upcoming business. The pedicab drivers are mostly young professionals. We're mostly just moonlighting," he said.

Jones works by day in the admissions office at University of Nebraska at Omaha. His pedicab colleagues include law students, a nursing student and a carpenter.

The rickshaws are more than just an appealing novelty, said Katie Flanagan, 25. She noted after a recent ride that they would be an ideal way for some women to avoid walking on the Old Market's brick roads, which can be precarious for high heels.

"I had a pair of really cute stilettos, but I only wore them two or three times in the Old Market because it was next to impossible to get around. I got so frustrated that I ended up throwing them away," she said. "This would have been perfect."

Passengers tend to be couples on dinner dates or groups out for a night, said Joe Skreczko, a carpenter who drives a pedicab primarily on weekends.

Rides peak as the bars close at 1 a.m. Pedicabs tend to pick up the shorter rides that the horse carriages don't get, with most customers going to their cars or to another club, he said.

Concerts at Qwest Center Omaha also have been a good source of business, with the hour before and after the shows providing a steady stream of customers, Jones said.

The pedicab's ride is fairly smooth, although the bumps on the Old Market brick streets can be jostling.

Drivers don't have set fares, and several said they have received as much as $20 for a ride. Drivers often suggest a price at the ride's end, usually lobbying for a tip as well. It's best to arrange a rate before the ride.

Drivers pay $25 to rent the pedicabs from the company for four hours. Anything they make over that is profit, and some like Jones have earned as much as $200 on a four-hour shift.

Statham noted that the $25 driver rental fee is an "introductory rate" and that the arrangement could change in the future. The covered cabs cost between $3,000 and $4,000 each.

The company has 10 cabs available, but drivers work at their convenience. To take out a cab, they simply call the owners and schedule a time, which means pedicab availability to the public can be erratic.

The scheduling, combined with some inclement weather and holiday weekends, has kept the drivers from regularly showing up downtown.

They have been most common on Fridays and Saturdays after 9 p.m. They almost never run on weekdays or afternoons, but Statham said he hopes to double the number of drivers to staff the pedicabs daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The drivers doubt whether that schedule will work in the Old Market yet.

"The business gets really good on the weekends, but it hasn't hit really on weeknights," Skreczko said.

Drivers bike within the bounds of Quest Center Omaha and Pacific Street, and between the riverfront and Joslyn Art Museum, Statham said. Most drivers tend to circle the Old Market and make trips to some of the outlying parking lots.

"People are kind of getting used to it, they're more receptive," said Bartek, who earned about $80 last Friday.

She hopes people embrace the mode of transportation as they have in San Diego.

But when asked whether rides around the Old Market could ever last as long as those around San Diego - one of which went on for seven hours - she laughed and acknowledged, "It would get a bit redundant."

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Yeah, I noticed those downtown a while ago, and was very excited after just having seen them all over New York.