Rickshaws are coming to Peoria Heights.
The Peoria Heights Village Board gave its seal of approval to Peoria businessman Mike McCormack this week to operate two “pedicabs,” basically a bicycle- propelled buggy, in the Village. McCormack started taking passengers earlier this week, and will be out and about this weekend.
He intends to concentrate his efforts around the Heights’ popular Restaurant Row, taking people between various venues, from restaurant or bar to car if they’re parked some distance away, from establishment to home if it’s within a reasonable pedal, even on pleasure rides say, along Grandview Drive if folks just want to enjoy the view and the evening.
“Someone asked me, ‘Why?’ I was like, ‘Why not?’” said McCormack, who considered the Heights’ bustling downtown accompanied by its generally relaxed vibe as major pluses.
“It’s a little pilot program,” he said, adding that if it proves popular, he can always expand. “It’s already working out in other areas.”
The rickshaw can carry up to three people, said McCormack, 57, who is an avid cyclist and a regular member of the Clydesdale cycling group inChillicothe. On any given evening, he’lllikely be piloting one of the bikes
himself. You can get a peek at how the whole thing works here.
McCormack is still working out a pricing structure based on demand, but said he would likely charge between $1 and $2 per minute, with a $3 minimum. He may charge a flat fee for certain rides, such as tours of Grandview Drive. He will operate on weekends and evenings, weather permitting. If riders need a blanket, they’ll get one. If they want to listen to some music, they can be soothed by thosesounds, too.
McCormack said he intends to be a visible presence in the Heights. “I’m not like an Uber,” he said. “I just show up. You want to get in and go, you can get in and go.”
The owner/operator of Sounds Good Hearing Aids just a few blocks south of the Heights Downtown on Prospect Avenue, McCormack, a West Peoria resident, scoured the globe to find the rickshaws, finally settling on two in Shanghai and having them shipped all the way to central Illinois.
He said he doesn’t see the rickshaws competing with the popular pedal bus. While that is an entertainment event in and of itself – seating up to 15 people, allowing alcohol to be consumed, etc. -- the rickshaws are just one more mode of transportation, helping people get from one place to another, though the novelty and fun of it also will be an attraction.
As part of the ordinance permitting the pedicab, the operator – McCormack, in this instance – must pay an annual fee of $150 to the Village. Beyond that, the Village’s primary issue was public safety, requiring such things as seat belts, brake lights and turn signals on the vehicles.
“This is a fantastic concept for Peoria Heights,” said Trustee Elizabeth Khazzam, who told McCormack that “I feel like you’re going to get a lot of business.”
