Sign of nightlife: Rickshaw arrives

Downtown Raleigh - Attraction cheers boosters

On the surface, a pedicab is about as simple as you can get. It's a fiberglass carriage on wheels that is hauled around by a driver who rides a 21-speed bicycle in the front. But the arrival of the vehicles on the streets of downtown Raleigh this month could mean something more than a fun way to tour the city.

Downtown boosters are hoping that the debut of the Raleigh Rickshaw Co. is another subtle sign that downtown is beginning to pulse with the nightlife that has been so elusive.

These kinds of services are crucial, helping to connect downtown areas that now operate autonomously, says Nancy Hormann, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

"I've just spent this last weekend in Memphis," Hormann said. "What was very cool was you could jump in a horse-drawn carriage, you could jump in a rickshaw, and you could go from entertainment district to entertainment district."

Some say Raleigh has a long way to go before it becomes that kind of thriving metropolis.

"If the weather is nice, we have pretty good foot traffic, especially if there's some kind of special event going on," said Carter Powell, co-owner of the Fayetteville Street Tavern (formerly The Capital Room). "But we need a whole lot more events."

Some signs indicate that downtown traffic is picking up.

Along with Raleigh Rickshaw, the city operates trolleys around downtown.

There are also horse-drawn carriages that offer rides on the weekend, operated by Jamie Massey, who started the service in November. The service has grown from one carriage to three, and Massey is preparing to add Thursday to the schedule.

"We can't get our hands on horses and carriages fast enough," he said. "It's growing faster than we can keep up with."

Despite the attraction's popularity, Massey said many riders associate things such as carriages and rickshaws with bigger cities.

"You'll ask people, 'Did you ever take a carriage ride before,' and they'll say, 'Yeah, I did it in New York,' or 'I did it in Boston.' But you don't hear a lot of North Carolina."

Charlotte and Carrboro also have rickshaw services. Raleigh Rickshaw co-owner Amedeo Rosa said that the availability of rickshaw services in other cities led him to start his company.

"We figured that if places like Charleston had them, we could have them here," he said.

Raleigh officials are trying to build momentum, planning a more consistent trolley service that will run around downtown every 10 minutes or so.

"That's the biggest missing link," Hormann said. "The goal is to have it up and running by '08, when the new convention center opens."

But because the convention center's opening is a year away, Rosa said he knows it's a risk to start Raleigh Rickshaw now. He and business partner Sean O'Neal have invested $60,000 in the operation.

"Once you have enough people downtown, you can support these businesses," Rosa said. "I think the downtown population needs to double again before you get the critical mass for true urban living. But it's coming together."

Working only for tips right now, Rosa and O'Neal are putting all of their money into buying more rickshaws. Raleigh Rickshaw operates five pedicabs, and there are five more on order, along with plans for 10 more by the end of the summer. "I hope to break even by September," Rosa said.

In the meantime, the company is making what money it can by charging drivers fees to lease the rickshaws each night, ranging from $10 for weekdays to $75 for special events. The drivers keep any tips they earn.

Raleigh Rickshaw is also selling advertising on panels displayed on the buggies, though Rosa declined to say how much the ads cost.

"I see them as rolling billboards," Rosa said. "I want to have a downtown guide with menus from restaurants and information about clubs. We could even do special packages, like date nights."

Though they are just getting started, the rickshaws are a good sign for downtown Raleigh, said Doyle Hyett, whose HyettPalma firm specializes in helping cities boost their downtowns.

"I think that's encouraging to see that entrepreneurs are venturing out there, trying some new and different things," Hyett said. "There's obviously a lot more parts to the story than that. But you've got to start somewhere. Those are small things, but small things add up over time. Everything can't be a convention center."

Raleigh's toughest challenges moving ahead are likely to be attracting street-level retail shops and homes for middle-class people, Hyett said.

"Most of the first line of retail that you attract to a downtown in the early days is small, independent businesses," he said. "But in the business of downtown revitalization, you've got to sometimes be satisfied with small victories."