BicyTaxi Comes to New York City
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 06.10.06
From the BicyTaxi press release, “BicyTaxies will shuttle passengers to their destination, running scheduled routes in New York City as a Taxi, or operating at corporate, personal, sport or Convention Center events with an advertiser's message prominently displayed and attracting attention”. While the owners are US investors, the vehicles are manufactured in Germany, where the "advertising in motion concept" originated. Currently 50 units are available for the U.S. market through September, at which time the fleet will grow to 100 units through March 2007. Transportation costs for BicyTaxi are currently set at $1 per block with a $10 minimum per person in New York.
"Any company wishing to advertise via BicyTaxi can do so with an approximate14-day turn-around time. In that time we can prep the BicyTaxis, design the advertising, wrap the vehicle and have drivers ready to roll."
The business plan seems to be to roll out next in the Miami, Las Vegas, Chicago and Boston markets.
Many cities require special permission to advertise in public places. We're hoping that does not become a breakthrough obstacle and that the business plan also includes targeting suitably green advertising clients. See also ::Trike Taxis in NYC
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Travel Green and Save Money without Giving Up Anything (Except Your Carbon Footprint)
- Make Your Own T-Shirt: Empire Waist With A Personal Touch
- Improve Your Running Naturally with 4 Easy Yoga Poses
- Spare Yourself from Road Raging Bike Haters: How to Avoid Anti-Cyclism
- Forget Going Green Because It's the Right Thing to Do—Go Green to Make Your Neighbors Jealous
- Track Buses by Phone, Internet, Bus Stop
Austin TX has bike taxis, but only on certain days of the week and only downtown. They're convenient for getting a ride back to wherever you parked, or if you live close in enough you could get a ride all the way home. I believe they have advertisements on the back too, but they're not as fancy as these. The ones in Austin are more of a two person chariot attached to the seat post of the "mule" bike.
I *think* this is the first time these taxis have shown up in North America. They have already been going strong for a couple of years all over Europe as well as in the Middle East, Japan and Korea. Here's a map of their locations on their German home site:
http://www.velotaxi.de/php/main.php?id=32&menu=6〈=en
I can't get the URL to come out right: the part at the end that reads "=6〈=en" should be "=6 & lang =en" (without the spaces).
The taxis are quite cute and stylish looking, though I have seen comments in some places that the cab is a squeeze compared to more "traditional" looking "chariot" cabs referred to in the previous message, and it seems the drivers (pekallers?) find them heavier and clunkier compared to ones like those made by Cycles Maximus in Britain. (I think this comment was somewhere on the Velorution blog site.)
How is this an improvement on existing pedicabs? We need more outdoor advertising like we need a hole in the head.
We've had 'adbikes' like these in Cardiff for a couple of years now.
The advertising pays for them so they are free to use, and as they can use roads closed to normal traffic, they actually get you across town twice as fast as a taxi or bus. They are a little bumpy though.
www.jamblemag.co.uk
$1 a block? To go slower than a taxi and for more money... I don't get it.
I don't know the cost of a cab ride in NYC. Maybe a resident can fil us in. However, a dollar a block sounds expensive; I hope that long blocks, not short ones.
Traditional pedicabs seem like a great idea. I wonder why they haven't taken off earlier in NYC? I do recall seeing them at the tribeca film festival last year.
I live in NYC is this is extremely expensive. To put it in perspective:
There are 20 "street blocks" (going north/south) in 1 mile.
Cab fare is:
$2.50 upon entry
$0.40 for each additional unit
The unit fare is:
one-fifth of a mile, when the taxicab is traveling at 6 miles an hour or more.
To go one mile in a cab it costs $4.50 plus $1 tip equals $5.50
The BicyTaxi would cost $20 plus tip ($5.00?).
I'll stick with the taxi.
One more thing. There already are pedicabs in NYC. I think the pedicab drivers rent the cabs for the day and charge whatever fare they want. I think they generally charge $1/block as well. They're not uncommon to see in midtown manhattan but I rarely ever see one with a passenger. Tourists usually take them.
I understand this is environmentally friendly but it's not very practical. It would take forever to go 50-60 blocks not to mention the cost. And for short distances it's easier to walk. It would be cool to see this succeed but I don't see it happening.
I build bike taxi's for 600 dollars each. I have pedi cabs in orlando fort lauderdale and soon new york. I have lots of new ideas about the business. give me a call if you want to work the super bowl.......
OK now i know what the heck these things are. They are exoensive though....and I wouldn't take them. In fact they should pay ME to ride in it.
I NEED INFO. ON The PRICE FOR a bicy taxi .cant, were can i get that info. my e mail is o_pepper@hotmail.com thankyou
BicyTaxis, pedicabs of NYC,combine innovative and eco-friendly transportation with their function as a prime advertising medium,
They are the new Pedicab.
Pedicab = BicyTaxi
It is the best way to advertise in NYC, this is the pedicab to go with!