The Chainlink

Rolling Pub Crawl Owners Sue City (I hope the city wins)

copy and pasted from chicagoist

 

http://chicagoist.com/2011/07/20/rolling_pub_crawl_owners_sue_city.php

 

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Minneapolis-based PedalPub is a "bike-powered pub crawl." It's essentially a large bike, powered by 16 people pedaling, steered by a guide who sits behind a keg, that rolls from bar to bar. (Amstel Light has used a version of PedalPub in recent years around Wrigley Field.)

The owners of PedalPub have sued the city because they were denied a business license. PedalPub Chicago's Matt Graham said the city sees his company as a sightseeing operation. “Which we’re not," Graham said. "We can never be because we don’t operate a motorized vehicle.”

Graham is up front about Pedal Pub's intention to be nothing more than a bike-powered pub crawl. Having biked from bar to bar over the years ourselves, we're just a little bit jealous we hadn't hit upon this business model.

We can also see how the city is objecting to this, without outright coming out and saying the last thing they want to do is grant a business license to a rolling vehicle powered by drunks. besides, the bike taxis at Wrigley Field and U.S> Cellular Field already serve as ad hoc bike bar crawls already.

 

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris B on July 20, 2011 at 9:57am

The city needs to come out and say "no you can't drink and drive/bike"

The problem is the city is not saying that, they are saying you can't have sightseeing tours with human powered vehicles, which will be bad for any new business, and potentially force all the bike/segway renters to end any tours they offer and force them to just rent only. You couldn't even have this vehicle used for things like architecture tours.

But yes, I agree these are pretty ridiculous, I just think for everyone involved the city needs to put it to rest for the right reasons.

Permalink Reply by David on July 20, 2011 at 10:51am

But I don't think the passengers here are actually driving/biking in any real sense.  Sure, they're providing the power, but it's the (presumably sober) driver who controls the steering and the brakes.  So where's the bad?

 

I think the city's real concern here is that this is a large, slow vehicle that is difficult to fit into existing traffic patterns.  My feeling on that is: it's time to change the traffic patterns.  Chicago has a number of districts (Wrigleyville, North/Damen, Michigan ave perhaps) that at least at certain times are dominated by pedestrian and non-motorized traffic, and yet the overwhelming amount of public space in those areas is dedicated to automobiles.  That's ridiculous. 

 

Services like a pedal-powered minibus (which is all this is, despite the pub crawl theme) are a step in making these areas more pedestrian and bike friendly. 


Chris B said:

The city needs to come out and say "no you can't drink and drive/bike"

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on July 20, 2011 at 11:08am

I saw these in Minneapolis recently and thought it looked like a lot of fun, and we need these here! There is indeed a driver of the vehicle -- not depicted in the photo above -- who is an employee of the company, is stone cold sober, and he's facing forward, driving it like a pedicab. The drinkers just provide pedal power but don't control braking or steering.

 

For licensing purposes, these should be treated more like horse-drawn carriages (also take up a lot of room on the streets and go very slowly but add charm and ambience) or pedicabs (non-motorized transportation service). I could see them being very popular everywhere from Viagra Triangle to Ukrainian Village to Andersonville.

Permalink Reply by Davo on July 20, 2011 at 11:11am
The driver is sober and the bartender for the pedelers. I'd like to think of it as in flight fueling.
Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on July 20, 2011 at 11:38am
In Illinois I believe auto passengers must be physically separated from a driver in order to consume alcoholic beverages - you can't drink a beer in the backseat of a car even though you obviously aren't driving.  No idea what prompted that law, but it's certainly a boon for the limo industry.  I would love to see Clark St completely shut down to non-CTA traffic between Newport and Grace on Cubs game days, at least on the weekends.
Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on July 20, 2011 at 12:02pm
On the one hand these things look awesome for people like me and you who can roll responsibly while lightly imbibing, on the other hand 16 dudes in Lacoste shirts coming out of a Cubs game and getting on one of these things is clearly a horrible idea. I'm with the city more or less.
Permalink Reply by Craig S. on July 20, 2011 at 12:32pm
If it served bacon it would be a goldmine and I would be a frequent customer. I hope the city loses.
Permalink Reply by April on July 20, 2011 at 3:24pm

If you read the full article (or go to the company's website) you'll find that you can't actually drink (alcohol) while riding in the vehicle.  it is just meant as transportation between pubs.  You can drink coffee (and other non-alcoholic beverages) eat and smoke (go figure) while riding however.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 20, 2011 at 4:21pm
Dubs- why do you want the city to win?
Permalink Reply by April on July 20, 2011 at 4:52pm
OK.  I'm confused...I just found this nbc article which says they serve alcohol but the pedal pub website says they don't provide food or beverages but yet riders must be 21 and have ids on rides when alcohol is served.  So is it BYOB?
Permalink Reply by April on July 20, 2011 at 4:56pm

Maybe this clarifies?

 

From the PedalPub FAQ: 

Can I drink alcohol on the PedalPub?
Only while on private property with the owner’s approval. (Your driveway, your yard, while tailgating, restaurant/bar parking lots, campgrounds, etc.)

If the bike vehicle is not serving alcohol, I don't understand why the city has a problem with it.  How is it any different than a pedicab?
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 15, 2011 at 12:50pm

I came across the PedalPub on Saturday, at Chicago and Oakley.  Chatted with a nice guy named Matt who was running it.  Sounds like the city lost interest in the "no motor" crap but is now trying to claim it has to be licensed as a pedicab. The impression I had was that it was being rented to shuttle between bars on a barhop.

http://chicago.pedalpub.com/

 

$160/hr, seats 12.  Who's in?

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