We got word last week that a local Pedicab company is looking to expand across the city, including adding routes in the Richmond District.
Cabrio Taxi, known for their glittery red cabs, currently operates on the Embarcadero, offering rides to locals and tourists via their fleet of bicycle-powered taxis. According to their website, they also offer tours and services for special events.
Apparently business is booming and Cabrio wants to add more routes in the city. In their route map application to the SFPD and SFMTA (view application (PDF)), the company says they have plans to “grow into the cultural and commercial pockets of San Francisco such as the Marina, North Beach, SOMA, Mission, Polk St., Haight and the GGPark/Panhandle areas.”
Officer Tobius Moore, Permit Officer for the Richmond District station, said in an email that Cabrio Taxi wants to offer transportation between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, and to support large events happening in Golden Gate Park (like Outside Lands, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass).
“Their main focus for the Richmond District is to provide “green transportation” for people between The Presidio and Golden Gate Park on normal days and nights. When there is a large event or festival in Golden Gate Park, the company’s focus is transporting people from Golden Gate Park to businesses and bus routes along Geary Boulevard, Clement Street, and California Street to help alleviate pedestrian congestion around Fulton Street and Golden Gate Park,” Moore wrote.
The route map in their application shows service running along JFK and MLK Drives in Golden Gate Park, as well as along Lake Street. Pedicabs would use 25th Avenue to exit and enter the park during the day, and 8th Avenue as well in the evenings.
No word on how much Cabrio Taxi plans to charge for rides. I haven’t been in a pedicab for years and the last time I inquired about a ride down on the wharf, I was pretty surprised at how high the price was. One Yelp reviewer notes that it’s “about twice as expensive per mile as a cab, but they can go up all the walking streets too!”
In addition to providing green transportation, Cabrio Taxi says the presence of their drivers can also help reduce crime in local neighborhoods. “Part of our legacy contribution to the City will be the fact that we will help in crime prevention. We hope to have our operators work with the local stations to become educated and certified for simple emergency response procedures. This has proven to be effective in other cities,” they wrote in their proposal.
Cabrio’s goal is to be permitted to operate their pedicab service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but note that they would likely not have any in operation between 4am and 10am in the mornings. Their “staging” areas would be at fire hydrants, per suggestion from the SFMTA.
Officer Moore notes that the pedicab company has engaged in ample community outreach about their plan, yet no Richmond District organizations made their contact list. In his email, Moore reached out to local groups like the Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR), the Geary Merchant’s Association, The Richmond Review newspaper, as well as local business owners and landlords for feedback.
What do you think about a pedicab service operating in the neighborhood? Leave a comment to let us know.
Sarah B.
Sounds good! The fewer taxis/cars on the road the better. While a little touristy (and I would probably never use one), they would be good for bringing business into/through the neighborhood, would keep the streets calm and quiet, and generally make our city more cycle-centric.
Great, if they’ll show up when you need them they’ll be a step ahead of the regular cab companies supposedly serving this neighborhood!
Honestly, i can’t see the harm– seems like a good service.
Well said Sara. Most taxis are like…you want me to come all the way over there?? I want to tell them it’s the Richmond District not dang Richmond… geesh
It all sounds good – but can you imagine pedi-cabbing it down Clement in traffic? 😉
I say sure – we could use more tourist traffic in our shops and restaurants and the more cabs the better.
Depending on the pricing, could be a good option!
Also – looking at the upcoming America’s Cup events, I would love an easy way to get from the inner richmond thru the presidio to the waterfront to watch – and since real cabs are such a rarity, this could be nice!
The Richmond is not Fisherman’s Wharf so I’m not sure if they’ll even survive out here.
This would be a GREAT idea if they were going to use streets with bike lanes. However, since the city redid the lanes on 25th Avenue, these cabs are going to be a pain to drive behind (similar to the issues we now have with buses on 25th Avenue). We can get stuck and miss lights with the current lines on 25th Avenue. I would like their proposed routes to be reconsidered to use bike lanes going in and out of Golden Gate park.
Would love to see them out here, and I hope the NIMBYs on Lake Street won’t protest it. Thank goodness they have not closed the 14th and 15th Ave gates to thru-traffic (so far at least). Anybody know the status of this? Are they to remain open?
I’m excited about this and hope that the MTA does everything that it can to help make non-motorized vehicles succeed.
The more opportunity for fewer cars, the better. And if these pedicabs bring more “eyes” to bare on crime, good deal! I agree that the pedicabs should be tried out on streets with bike lanes, even tho they’ll probably end up in car lanes because they’ll want to avoid the danger of parked-car doors that suddenly swing open. Putting them on Geary and Clement streets: bad idea! With double-parked cars, delivery trucks, buses, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc., where would there be room for these? And if you think road rage exists now, wait until cars are “stuck” going a couple miles an hour behind one of these things during times of heavy traffic.
renee: Agree on many of your points especially about the dooring danger. I’ve not seen pedicabs, what is their average speed on the flat and uphills?
This is wonderful news! My wife and I take pedicabs occasionally and enjoy them. WooHoo!!! Looking forward to taking these throughout the Richmond!
I do think an EIR is called for, given the potential of pedicabs to impact Muni flow.
25th ave has some very steep hills- how do these guys peddle up them whilst also hauling an additional 200- 400 lbs.?
Here’s your EIR- bikes have zero emissions. DONE.
BAD IDEA. Too many hills, and I will be damned if i get stuck behind one in traffic. I already cant stand those yellow electric tricycles tourists that drive on lake st. Im all for green transportation but not at the expense of congesting the road.
As a 2nd generation San Franciscan who lives on Arguello and has seen the street shrunk from 4 lanes to 2 with added bus traffic, pedestrian traffic and bike traffic which do not obey signs, I say, fine….as long as you restrict it to Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. Keep the traffic off the busy streets.
Can I recommend that 12th and 14th (I think that is right be made one way on each side with a bike lane specifically to allow bikes to head North and South from the Presidio to the GG Park) Also, can we take the bikes off of Lake Street and put them on the road inside the Presidio that goes down to Mountain Lake Park? That is what smart planners would do.
An EIR would help determine the impact and figure out where best to put these vehicles.