Local Pedicab Service Hits Casino Roadblock

Pedicabs, or bicycle powered rickshaws, will not be coming to Wendover as soon as expected, according to Salt City Cycle owner Lewis Gasper.

“We have had some problems getting the casinos on board,” Gasper said Tuesday. “They have to get the okay from corporate, but we still plan to come.”

The major issue, Gasper said, was whether the pedicabs would be allowed to wait for fares on casino property, have to wait off property or to be called like a regular taxi.

“Whether or not the pedicabs can queue up in the casino parking lots or not is between the pedicab company and the casino,” said WWPD Lt. Don Lininger. “Most casinos on the Las Vegas Strip have taxi queues, and  I guess so do some hotels in Salt Lake, but we never had them in Wendover.”

“The police have been super supportive and so has the city,” Gasper added. “We will come out to Wendover, even if

we have to pick up fares on the street.”

The West Wendover City council changed the local law to allow for and to regulate pedicabs at Gasper’s request. And According to the Salt Lake businessman, the business plan is sound.

“The casinos spend $700,000 a year operating their shuttle service, and the town also supports a taxi company.” Gasper explained. “We think Wendover could easily handle a pedicab service. We were out there a couple of months ago just to check out the terrain and see if we could handle the hills. It looks great.”

With the pedicab service and a new liquor store set to begin construction,  it was hoped that West Wendover may be coming out of a more than decade long decline in the number of small businesses.

While there were signals that West Wendover could report a significant gain in the number of local businesses for the first time since 2003, that increase will have to wait until next year.

— Howard Copelan