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| John Gibbins |
SAN YSIDRO — Pedicab driver David Arias Jimenez cruised along Camino de la Plaza recently, looking for weary shoppers at the Las Americas Premium Outlets.
“The ladies with their hands full of bags are the ones who usually need a ride to their car,” Jimenez explained in Spanish.
Pedicabs are new to San Ysidro, but have long been controversial in downtown San Diego after the 2009 death of a tourist on a ride.
Last year, the San Diego City Council voted to impose stricter regulations on drivers by capping the number of pedicabs allowed to operate in high-traffic areas, banning the vehicles from riding on the sidewalk and requiring all drivers to carry driver’s licenses and proof of insurance.
Only one company has set up shop in San Ysidro so far. Ecopedicabs began operations about six months ago.
“They’ve actually been a very welcome and responsible new member of the community,” said Jason Wells, the CEO of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. “They came here very cognizant of the problems downtown and with ideas about how to avoid that in San Ysidro.
“They want to make sure the door remains open for their business here, and we do, too, since they are unique to South County.”
Ecopedicab owners Tomas Arellano and Bernardo Michelson said they follow even stricter rules than those imposed by the city by requiring all their drivers to wear a full uniform, go through a long training period and pass drug tests.
They have about 25 drivers, but during slow hours only allow four operators to cruise the two main passageways through town
Rides in San Ysidro cost $2.50, but 20-year-old Jimenez says many of the passengers pay more in the form of a “propina” or tip.
Working about nine or 10 hours a day, Jimenez said he can earn around $100 if he hustles.
“It’s a good job. Most of the people I drive around are interesting to talk with,” Jimenez said in Spanish. “I have a lot of control over my own day. If I work hard, I make lots of money — kind of like being my own boss.”
Located for now in a warehouse behind a parking lot, Ecopedicabs has about 40 three-wheeled cabs ready and waiting for business to expand.
Owners Arellano and Michelson have painted the walls in the company’s signature colors — bright yellow and black. Plans are underway for a study and rest area inside the building.
“Most of the kids that operate our pedicabs are in college,” Arellano said. “They are good kids working their way through school. We want them to be able to study before their shift and relax or study before leaving for school.”
The company is also collecting advertising dollars from nearby businesses and displaying the logos on their rides.
“With 87,000 people crossing the border every day, the opportunity for exposure on one of our cabs is really high,” Arellano said.
He added that much of the company’s transportation business comes from shuttling people between the border and U.S. banks in San Ysidro after stricter restrictions in Mexico now limit the amount of U.S. dollars that can be exchanged at banks on the other side — a measure aimed at combating money laundering and organized crime.
“Almost 80 percent of our pedicab business is mainly taking people from the border to their bank and back,” he said.
Ecopedicabs is also testing a system for people to call for a lift on a pedicab.
Chamber CEO Wells said there is no animosity between the regular cabdrivers who wait at the border for fares.
“The cabdrivers don’t really wait around to drive someone just six blocks,” Wells explained.
Claudio Cruz, a 25-year-old driver from San Diego, said sometimes automobile drivers seem annoyed with the pedicabs.
“They can be really rude sometimes, even when we’re in the bike lane, but we’re going so slow that it isn’t really dangerous,” Cruz said.
District 8 Councilman David Alvarez said there are plenty of regulations and checks and balances on the pedicab drivers.
“We need to find alternative modes of transportation given our borders are choked up and the wait times are long,” he said.
“Now, with the construction that is starting and the lanes being closed down, we need to look for these new opportunities to get around.”
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