They are ubiquitous in Asia, swarming the bustling streets of Bangkok, New Delhi and Beijing.
Now, a company that manufactures tuk-tuks — the three-wheeled motorized rickshaws that have moved the masses for more than a century and go by many other names in Asia, Africa and Latin America — aims to make inroads in the US.
The Tuk Tuk Factory, based in Amsterdam, has signed a licensing agreement with Denver-based eTuk USA to allow the company to manufacture and sell an electric version of the vehicle.
The company’s founders hope the eco-friendly vehicles, a far cry from the loud, pollution-spewing versions common in Asia and South America, will become the next hip mode of transportation for urban dwellers and tourists across the country.
It is too soon to know if people in the US will embrace tuk-tuks, but eTuk USA director of sales and marketing Michael Fox said the company has been selling the vehicles to individuals, marketing companies and food vendors for US$16,950 to US$25,000, depending on how they are customized.
The three partners’ other company, eTuk Denver, launched a call-and-demand shuttle service in downtown Denver after receiving approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates for-hire transportation services.
The service is the latest to enter an increasingly crowded field of transportation options that includes cycle rickshaws, golf-cart taxis and ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.
Fox is banking on the tuk-tuk’s open-air design to help it stand out.
“When you look at a golf cart and you look at a tuk-tuk, which has more curb appeal?” he asked.
However, like ride-hailing services, the tuk-tuk has faced some pushback from a handful of cab companies and other shuttle operators and raised concerns about the vehicles’ safety.
Terry Bote, a commission spokesman, said several cab and shuttle companies were successful in restricting where the tuk-tuks can operate, what types, how many vehicles can be used and how many passengers each can carry.
The tuk-tuks operate mostly in a restricted downtown area and are banned from providing scheduled service to the nearby Denver Broncos football stadium, a lucrative destination for the competition.
However, even with the restrictions, Fox said his service can complement Denver’s bus and light rail systems.
He noted the “last-mile concept,” a term that has been used by urban planners to describe the difficulty of getting people from places like a railway station or a bus depot to their final destination.
The concept originally applied to suburban areas, but also is relevant when studying how people complete their trips in downtown areas, University of Colorado, Denver assistant professor of design and planning Carolyn McAndrews said.
“Everybody has the last-mile problem, and they solve that problem by walking or we drive our cars,” she said.
However, McAndrews also said the market is ripe for new modes of transportation such as tuk-tuks to close that gap.
She points to a 2012 study in New Jersey that says “last-mile” shuttles are playing an increasingly important role in connecting people and jobs to rail transit, especially because of the decentralization of jobs and homes in most cities over the past few decades.
“To be competitive with cars, you have to make the point-to-point as convenient as possible,” she said.
And it seems like Colorado’s legislature agrees.
As tuk-tuks are classified as motorcycles by the US Department of Transportation, drivers would have had to wear eye protection and get a motorcycle endorsement for the license. Anyone younger than 18 would also have had to wear a helmet.
However, Colorado Representative Paul Rosenthal said such requirements for vehicles that travel short distances at low speeds do not make sense, especially for a shuttle service.
“Say you have four kids. They would have to go find a helmet or have them on hand to do that,” he said. “It becomes cumbersome.”
On May 4, the legislature passed Rosenthal’s bill to strip those requirements for three-wheeled motorcycles with a windshield, seatbelts and a top speed of 25 mph. Each shuttle model has also undergone a standard commercial vehicle inspection to make sure it complies with federal safety standards.
Still, most states heavily regulate three-wheeled vehicles, because of what some say is the potential for serious accidents.
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