Pedal Power

Boston Pedicab is one of a handful of pedal-powered businesses that have popped up in Boston during the past several years.

Image: Courtesy of Pedicab Outdoor

Boston Pedicab is one of a handful of pedal-powered businesses that have popped up in Boston during the past several years. At first the human-powered vehicles, which look similar to rickshaws attached to bicycles, were a novelty along Boston’s congested streets. But owners of pedal-powered firms say that the desire to cut down on driving among consumers has fueled revenue growth.

In 2005, Ben Morris became one of Boston’s first bicycle entrepreneurs when he founded Boston Pedicab while he was a senior at Northeastern University. Morris started off with five pedicabs in Boston; today the company has 19 pedicabs and 65 drivers, and it also operates in Newport, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and San Francisco. (The cost of a new pedicab is roughly $3,500.)

Morris also created a pedicab advertising agency, Pedicab Outdoor, through which he sells ad space on his pedicabs and other pedicab companies across the country, to firms ranging from Bacardi to Danversbank. Ad rates range from between $500 to $800 a month per cab.

Pedicab drivers, who are independent contractors, pay between $15 and $120 to rent one of Morris’ cabs for a shift. The most expensive shifts are in the evenings, when drivers, who work only for tips, tend to pull in the most money, especially during Red Sox games. Boston Rickshaw LLC, plus Boston’s 1,825 taxis, provide ample competition for the firm.

Morris declined to disclose revenue, but he says that it’s growing.“This is the transportation of the future,” said driver Dana Jay Bein, who claims that pedicab drivers can reap up to $500 per shift.

For more on the pedicab industry, click here for the full story from the Boston Business Journal (subscription required).