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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:51 am 
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This certainly looks less gimmicky than the free tuk-tuk rides Ola was offering at its Liverpool launch.

And since another firm managed to get some licensed in Cardiff last year, presumably Ola will be granted the PHV licences.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32892


Ola wants to bring electric rickshaws to Cardiff's streets

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/loca ... ts-section

They would run from Cardiff Bay to the city centre

People in Cardiff may soon be able to order an electric rickshaw to get around the city in the same way they would book an Uber taxi.

Taxi-hailing firm Ola has asked Cardiff council for permission to operate private hire electric rickshaws.

Ola, a rival to Uber, wants to offer the rickshaws as an option for general use through its booking app, rather than for pre-planned routes such as sightseeing tours.

The Ola rickshaws, known as Zbees, would carry a maximum of two passengers and only operate from Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, Lloyd George Avenue and throughout the city centre up to City Hall.

Image
Image: Ola/WalesOnline

Ola would operate 20 of its Zbees in Cardiff during a pilot scheme. The Zbees, which would all have seatbelts, would take one hour to charge, and once fully charged would run for an average of 30 miles.

Cardiff council's Public Protection Committee will decide whether to allow Ola's electric rickshaws at a meeting on July 23.

The compact design of rickshaws makes them unable to comply with many of the council's private hire vehicle licensing conditions - including knee space and lack of doors, a council report says.

But the committee approved a licence to a company wanting to run tuk-tuk tours in Cardiff last July.

Rickshaws and tuk-tuks have been licensed for private hire in Manchester, Blackpool, Brighton, Derby, Chester and Ipswich. But Bath and North East Somerset Council refused a similar application in October 2016 due to safety concerns.

A report to the committee says: "Rickshaws have far fewer safety features than standard cars. They can be fitted with seat belts and strengthened overhead and side-impact protection, but they offer very little protection to the driver/passenger(s) in the event of a collision.

"They also do not have windows, and the open compartment design poses a greater risk of objects entering the rickshaw and potentially causing injury, or passengers being thrown from the vehicle or injuring limbs etc during a collision."

Image
Image: Ola/WalesOnline

Ola has told the council the Zbees have undergone extensive road safety testing and would create no noise or carbon emissions. They would be able to fit three people, including the driver, and a suitcase.

The Indian company says Zbees are a "quick and fun" way of travelling around city centres suffering from congestion.

Ola, which would hire 30 drivers to drive the Zbees, says the e-rickshaws would be "fully weatherproof" and be brand new from the manufacturer.

Image
Image: Ola/WalesOnline


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:52 am 
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Quote:
But the committee approved a licence to a company wanting to run tuk-tuk tours in Cardiff last July.


Wonder how that's going?


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:41 pm 
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Rickshaws and tuk-tuks have been licensed for private hire in Manchester, Blackpool, Brighton, Derby, Chester and Ipswich.

These things have never been licensed in B&H.

The ones that did operate for a short while had their PHV ops licensed revoked by the Traffic Commissioner.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:42 pm 
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Quote:
And since another firm managed to get some licensed in Cardiff last year,

And I bet that firm is delighted Ola are coming to the party.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:43 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
These things have never been licensed in B&H.

The ones that did operate for a short while had their PHV ops licensed revoked by the Traffic Commissioner.


PHV?


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:45 pm 
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StuartW wrote:
Sussex wrote:
These things have never been licensed in B&H.

The ones that did operate for a short while had their PHV ops licensed revoked by the Traffic Commissioner.


PHV?

Sorry PSV.

No way the council would license these things, so they got PSV licenses to run routes.

Which they never kept to thus loss their license. :D :D :D :D

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:01 pm 
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Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
all councils love anything electric at the moment so they might be minded to license these

might be a bit chilly in winter driving and riding in one

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:11 am 
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There's the same mock-up photos on the webpage, plus a short video, which is of the free tuk-tuk offer when Ola launched in Liverpool. So not clear precisely which tuk-tuks they'll be using, but the video certainly doesn't make them look particularly safe.

Otherwise a nice bit of advertising for Ola here, though [-(


These are the rickshaws that are going to taxi people around Cardiff and where you'll be able to get one

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... d-16644036

The electric rickshaws have been given the green light to come to the city

Electric rickshaws have been given the go-ahead to come to Cardiff .

People across the capital will soon be able to order a rickshaw in a similar way they would book an Uber taxi.

Taxi-hailing firm Ola had asked Cardiff Council for permission to run the private hire rickshaws.

At a special meeting held by the public protection committee on Tuesday it was decided to give the firm the green light to operate across certain parts of the city.

The Uber rival plans to offer the rickshaws through their existing booking app.

The Zbees, which would all have seatbelts, would take one hour to charge, and once fully charged would run for an average of 30 miles.

Where will I be able to get one?

The Ola rickshaws, known as Zbees, would carry a maximum of two passengers and only operate from Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, Lloyd George Avenue and throughout the city centre up to City Hall.

They plan to cover a roughly three mile patch that would take around 13 minutes to get from top to bottom.

Ola plan to have a fleet of 20 rickshaws across the city during a pilot scheme operated by 30 drivers.

Image
Image: Wales Online/Ola/Google

When can I get one?

Ola plan to operate their fleet on different hours throughout the week.

From Monday to Wednesday there will rickshaws available between 7am to 9pm.

From Thursday to Saturday they'll run from 6am to 2am.

On Sunday they will start at 10am until 5pm.

How much will it cost?

There's no exact word on how much they'll cost yet, but in documents submitted to the council Ola say they will be cheaper than current options for trips less than five miles.

Are they safe?

A report to the committee says: "Rickshaws have far fewer safety features than standard cars. They can be fitted with seat belts and strengthened overhead and side-impact protection, but they offer very little protection to the driver/passenger(s) in the event of a collision.

"They also do not have windows, and the open compartment design poses a greater risk of objects entering the rickshaw and potentially causing injury, or passengers being thrown from the vehicle or injuring limbs etc during a collision."

Ola has told the council the Zbees have undergone extensive road safety testing and would create no noise or carbon emissions. They would be able to fit three people, including the driver, and a suitcase.

They added the rickshaws will be "fully weatherproof" and be brand new from the manufacturer.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:28 am 
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How can a vehicle be fully weatherproof if it is open sided?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:45 pm 
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heathcote wrote:
How can a vehicle be fully weatherproof if it is open sided?

From everything I have experienced and read about, in relation to those behind rickshaws and Tuk Tuks, is that you don't believe a word they say.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:06 pm 
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heathcote wrote:
How can a vehicle be fully weatherproof if it is open sided?


Suspect they just mean that it can continue operating even during the monsoon season :shock:


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