31 Aug Electric Cab of Austin – still stalled with City

by Chris Nielsen

The very essence of government leadership is that you have a vision, a vision that includes not just the solution to our problems, but also a vision on how to improve our community as a whole.

I am proud to call myself an Austinite because of the community’s willingness to think outside the box and embrace alternative solutions.  That was my thought when I embarked in the journey to provide our downtown community with a green transportation solution that also served as a local economic stimulant.  Little did I know at that point, how many obstacles would be thrown in the way to stop electric vehicles from giving rides to pedestrians. At that time and ‘till this day, I believe that it is a win-win-win solution for the following reasons:

   1. Electric Vehicles for hire will provide a convenient and alternative mode of transportation for those living and visiting the downtown area that does not require driving and parking a traditional car through the already congested streets.

   2. Electric Vehicles for hire will help reduce health related problems associated with concentrated carbon emissions.  Additionally, it will demonstrate that Austin doesn’t just talk the talk but also walks the walk when it comes to being green. 

   3. Electric Vehicles for hire will increase local commercial activity by allowing patrons, who prefer not to ride pedicabs, to visit more than one venue in a shorter time-span and that would otherwise not make that extra trip if weren’t for the electric vehicle ready to take them. 

As a former concierge at attendant at a popular downtown hotel, I had to hear from my clients how they loved the area, but hated not being able to move short distances because taxis would reject them and they didn’t feel comfortable being squeezed into a pedicab.  At the same time, I observed how city employees would take city guests from hotels to the convention center during major events in plain golf cars.  Later, I also saw city employees driving around downtown in utility carts.  The city’s own practices combined with the taxis’ unwillingness to provide short distance rides gave me the idea and inspiration to take action and provide a solution. 

After garnering much support from my family and friends, I was able to collect enough money to start my business and give the people downtown a free ride while at the same time raising awareness on green transportation solutions.  Next thing you know, It was as if I had entered Bizzarro World.  The exact same taxi-drivers who refused to give my clients a ride now claimed that my service would keep them from being able to feed their families because of a loss in business.  Then, the city’s transportation department claimed that the safety standards being applied to city employees when they take around their guests and supplies are not the same standards that should apply to me.  It made no sense.

Despite the absurdity of these arguments, I strived to go above and beyond the city's practices by providing my passengers a ride in electric vehicles that were approved by federal safety standards.  Even with the hypocrisy at its max, the transportation department continues to claim, without a scintilla of evidence, that my vehicles are not safe enough. 

After testifying several times to the Urban Transportation Commission and receiving their recommendation for Council Action multiple on occasions we got a Council resolution in September of 2010 directing staff to immediately create a category for Low Speed Electric Vehicles for Hire (LSEVs)  We are still waiting on said category to be created by the very same department that pursues and cites my drivers and have recently gone as far to have 4 of them arrested recently.  Our company has unfairly led down several rabbit holes that successfully thwarted our intentions to allow the voters, through the Austin City Council, to decide for themselves whether or not this is in fact a solution they believe in. 

I refuse to believe that the counter arguments advanced in front of the public are sincere or made in good faith.  I do not see how it is safer for a non-federally approved pedicab, consisting of easily bent metal, going 3/mph in a 35/mph street is safer than a federally approved electric vehicle going 25/ mph in a 35/mph zone. One could argue that the former is actually a death trap, however, I simply argue that the latter is not.  If the LSEVs met federal safety standards without side doors and disc brakes (which do not even exist for these vehicles) it is because they proved with solid evidence that it was safe for its passengers.  As a result, the city’s transportation department is in no position to unnecessarily raise the standards with out a proven justification especially when taking into consideration the fact that the city’s practices do not even meet the very standards they are proposing.  These ironies coupled with arbitrary propositions such as prohibiting green taxis from using a sign including the words “cab” or “taxi,” when “pedicabs” are allowed to, requiring industrial size tires, regulating the content, as opposed to the place, of advertisement without regulatory authority, are what make me at times question the integrity of our system. Yet still, others have the audacity to do this under the pretense that all they want is a leveled playing field. Really?

I beg the people of Austin to please see beyond the smoke and mirrors. These vehicles are safe and environmentally smart because they have satisfied federal safety standards, produce no carbon emissions, and take up little space on the roads. LSEVs will cater to the very market created by traditional taxis, thereby providing a solution to the rejected passenger while at the same time not encroaching on their clientele.  However, please remember that as progressive as our city is, we still believe in a free market and we should allow the consumer not the government to decide which service is in their best interest.

I write as proof that I still believe in the integrity of our system. Please encourage our City Council do what is right for our community and share our vision to improve the quality of life in the downtown area by refusing to entertain misleading arguments and approve to regulate electric vehicles as green taxis for hire based upon solidly-founded federal safety standards and not mere opinions.