Pedicabs have been allowed for many years in New York City.
HYANNIS – Visitors to Hyannis will have a new way to get around this summer. Barnstable Town Manager Thomas Lynch recently approved pilot regulations for pedicabs, a new kind of taxi service.
“We’re kind of excited to have this transportation opportunity for our residents. We have a long Main Street and there are folks who might just want to go from one end to the other for maybe a little history of the street, as well as go to a restaurant down at the other end or maybe they want to go out as far as one of the beaches or the Kennedy Memorial,” Lynch said.
The regulations allow the Barnstable Licensing Authority to issue a license to a pedicab company that applies under the new rules. The licensing authority will have the pedicab licensing on the agenda at its meeting on June 22.
The companies will be allowed to operate in the Hyannis downtown area, including south of Main Street all the way to Kalmus Beach.
“There is the backing of the business community, so we thought we would try it. After the year is over, we’ll take some time to evaluate it to see how it all worked out,” Lynch said.
Lynch said town officials looked closely at the safety aspect of the program, meeting with Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald and Sergeant Andrew McKenna of the traffic division.
The pedicabs were demonstrated last year on Hyannis streets, so that town officials could be sure the vehicles would not interrupt the flow of traffic and that they could operate on the side of the road if necessary to get out of the way of faster traffic.
Lynch said the pedicab program will operate from July 1 until the end of the year. There will not be pick-up points, Lynch said. The pedicabs will be able to be flagged down anywhere there are seen.
Lynch said he expects they would operate only at certain times after the summer, like Columbus Day Weekend or the Hyannis Christmas Stroll.
Provincetown is the only other town on Cape Cod that allow pedicabs.
As in Provincetown, the pedicabs in Hyannis will operate on a pay-what-you-will basis, Lynch said.
