City Council extends moratorium on pedicab permits
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
The Austin City Council voted Thursday to extend a moratorium on issuing new pedicab permits in the city.
The freeze on new permits began in April of this year and was set to expire this month. The moratorium will now last until April of 2014.
City Assistant Director of Transportation, Gordon Derr, says he's been meeting with many of the pedicab owners about the extension. He says they're mostly in favor of it while safety issues are ironed out.
"The staff asked just to extend the moratorium for a further period while we continue to talk about safety, the mix of vehicles and how many vehicles should be on the road," Derr said.
Derr says that right now the city has about 550 permits issued, but it's not clear if all those are in use.
He expects to have a better number in December, when all pedicabs are inspected by the city.
It will be the first time inspections will be required in an effort to ensure the pedal-powered cabs have the proper safety features and meet minimum requirements.