Alderman seeking crackdown on pedicabs
Cites ‘illegal street curb parties’ and ‘chaos and mayhem’
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly is seeking a crackdown on Chicago pedicab drivers, who he says have created a public safety hazard by clogging streets outside River North bars and participating in illegal street parties across the city.
Reilly introduced an ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting that would ban the bicycle-pedal-powered passenger vehicles from a portion of River North at night. A separate measure seeks to reduce rickshaw ruckus across the city by outlawing the use of loud speakers, a popular feature of some pedicabs.
“The police commander of the 18th District came to me and said the density of these pedicabs, especially on the weekend nights, has gotten out of control,” said Reilly, 42nd. “They can’t get ambulance, fire service or police cars through Hubbard Street or Kinzie Street or Illinois Street, and that’s a safety concern.”
If approved, the ordinance would ban pedicabs after 6 p.m. in the popular nightlife district bound by Ohio Street to the north, Michigan Avenue to the east, the Chicago River to the south and Wells Street to the west.
Pedicabs already are prohibited at all times on Michigan Avenue and State Street downtown, two thoroughfares heavily frequented by tourists and shoppers.
Reilly’s other ordinance would ban all pedicabs citywide from having amplified music.
“We’re having these illegal street curb parties hiring the pedicab driver to be their DJ for the evening,” Reilly said. “So they sit there and crank their music while these guys are sitting there drinking and smoking dope on the curb in front of bars and restaurants, creating chaos and mayhem.
“We’ve had these large groups hanging out, drinking, doing drugs, listening to the pedicab music and then they see rivals doing the same thing across the street and they get into fights. That also has become an issue for cops.”
Reilly said the city has a “pretty strict noise ordinance on the books that should apply to pedicabs too.”
The veteran alderman stressed the pedicabs would be allowed to operate in that section of River North before 6 p.m. and in all other areas of the city at all times, with the exception of the existing bans on Michigan and State streets.
Asked if the pedicab popularity and street congestion has been driven at all by the fewer number of cabs and rideshares available post-pandemic to take revelers home, Reilly scoffed and called the pedicabs a “rolling violation,” with passengers often illegally smoking marijuana on the public right of way.
“These are not being used as commuter options,” Reilly said. “These are being used by drunk people who want to frequent the bars, play loud music and have their Instagram moment.
“This is not about getting people from point A to point B. This is about partying.”