Opinion

For good of San Antonio, free city's pedicabs

It takes guts to walk into a police substation and secretly record a conversation with officers on a controversial topic.

That's exactly what Michael Julian, a local pedicab driver, did recently.

For him, the espionage was an attempt to understand why the Police Department's bike patrol unit is so opposed to easing draconian restrictions on pedicabs downtown.

Also, it allowed him to share those reasons with the world, or the city, or whoever cares.

“We just went down there and knocked on the door or whatever,” said Julian, 25, a lanky, goateed student at San Antonio College.

Don't let the slacker facade fool you: Julian has played tough in a weird political tussle taking place between the local pedicab industry and downtown bike cops.

For years, the city has imposed silly, overly strict regulations on pedicab drivers, who pedal people in carriages to and from downtown locations on bicycles.

The three laws that bug them the most: They can't work after midnight; they can't stop pedaling unless they're dropping people off or picking people up; and they can't pedal at all on Commerce, Market, St. Mary's or Navarro streets, or on César Chávez Boulevard.

Those traffic arteries are among the busiest downtown.

In November, Julian and others in the pedicab industry began working with the city's Transportation Advisory Board to craft a more rational ordinance for consideration by City Council.

The concessions they won were significant: The curfew was extended to 3 a.m.; they were allowed to stop in commercial loading zones; and they were allowed to work on all downtown streets.

Then the bike cops caught wind of it, complained and kicked the ordinance back to the TAB.

In the recording, here's a lieutenant: “It bothered one of my supervisors quite a bit, is that we weren't even brought into this. It seemed to us that it was snuck in.”

Here are a few other candid gems:

“Once traffic gets messed up, and you have situations, then you throw in additional horse carriages or pedicabs, it makes our job a lot harder.”

(In a politic attempt to deflect that argument, Julian responds that pedicabs “are surprisingly agile compared to a horse carriage, you know?”)

Again, the recalcitrant lieutenant: “One reason I know is, after 12, that's when things start picking up for bike patrol, especially on weekend nights. Things start happening, and we don't need additional work.”

Another officer says, “I can tell you just from working nights, the level of intoxication out here and everything, it's a safety issue for you guys, not to mention people patronizing your service.”

At a February TAB meeting, a sergeant, lobbying to block any changes to the ordinance, echoed this concern about drunken drivers hitting pedicabs.

But here's where the cops get it backward.

Leaving aside the impact that more pedicabs would have on revitalizing downtown — “I think it could make it more lively,” says Mayor Julián Castro — let's consider the Police Department's public safety concerns.

Many people who would use pedicabs are stumbling out of bars after midnight toward their cars.

Perhaps they would appreciate alternative modes of transportation.

Thankfully, District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal understands this.

“I would much rather people hop on a pedicab and get something to eat rather than getting straight into their car,” Bernal told me. “And the public safety implications there are much more important than any traffic considerations we may have.”

After the bike cops complained, the ordinance was redrafted: If passed, pedicabs would only be permitted to work until 1 a.m., and they'd have to stay off Market and Commerce streets and César Chávez Boulevard.

Such an ordinance would still constitute one of the most restrictive among major cities.

It's now awaiting consideration by the council's Public Safety Committee. Those involved in its passage should realize that the TAB got it right the first time.

bchasnoff@express-news.net