A bright, loud feature of downtown San Diego, pedicabs could soon face stiffer regulations if the San Diego City Council passes amendments to the city code Monday.
The item, scheduled to be heard in the council's 2 p.m. session, would include regulations prohibiting the placement of sound-amplifying equipment in pedicabs and would require operators to provide passengers a price before they ride.
Additionally, the proposals to be reviewed Monday include having fares and pedicab licenses more prominently displayed.
Councilman Stephen Whitburn, who is proposing the amendments, said his office has received hundreds of complaints from residents, business owners and tourists alike regarding the music often blaring from pedicabs downtown.
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"The noise generally consists of loud music and sound effects designed to attract the attention of potential passengers from among the patrons of downtown's restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, and event spaces," a city staff report reads. "The excessive noise regularly continues until 2 a.m. or later and disrupts the sleep of residents and hotel guests alike."
A law is already on the books prohibiting pedicabs -- which have been regulated by the city since 2000 -- from playing music or other noise audible from more than 50 feet away. However, this distance makes enforcement more difficult, "because police officers must determine whether a pedicab is located less than or more than fifty feet away."
Monday's proposal would seek to ban speakers outright, eliminating ambiguity.
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Another aspect to be addressed by the council includes a common bait- and-switch tactic where a pedicab operator tells a group of potential passengers that their trip will cost a given fare. Then, after the ride, the operator will claim the fare discussed was actually a per-person cost, not the cost for all the passengers.
According to Whitburn's office, even when riders pay the bill reluctantly, the operator can add a "tip" without the passengers' consent or knowledge. The proposed ordinance seeks to beat this scam by requiring operators provide passengers "with a written, dated invoice that includes the pedicab operator's name or business name, the agreed upon fare per passenger, and the agreed upon total fare for all passengers due upon arrival at the destination."
Most pedicab operators are independent contractors for the business's owners.
