Bloomington becoming hub for bicycle-based businesses

On a typical day in Bloomington, avid cyclists, casual cruisers and poor students share the roads. But the newest trend on two wheels: bicycle businesses.

Whether to combat gas prices, or simply to enjoy the city’s scenery, cycle-based services have been sprouting up in Bloomington like Indiana corn.

Former student Chad Roeder launched Bloomington Pedal Power, a bicycle delivery service, earlier this year. And in April, 26-year-old alumnus Chris Waggoner started a bicycle rickshaw service called Fresh Air Taxis.

The businesses confirm Bloomington’s status as a bicycle town, said Adam Wason, the city’s assistant economic development director for small business and sustainable development.

“I think it goes back to the days of ‘Breaking Away’ and the Little 500 becoming popular,” he said. “It’s just an ideal way for people to get around town without needing the use of an automobile.”

But the latest bike businesses offer something new to the city’s economy.
Roeder’s Bloomington Pedal Power, for example, specializes in delivering everything from large packages to legal documents. The company also delivers groceries and picks up recyclables. For most deliveries, Roeder charges a $10 fee, plus 10 percent of the total grocery bill.

Roeder’s aim is a green one: to lower Bloomington’s emissions and improve the environment.

“I wanted to provide an alternative for transport of goods throughout Bloomington,” he said, “to reduce the carbon footprint of Bloomington and create a green business in that nature.”

The business is rapidly expanding, he said.

He transports prepared foods between Bloomingfoods grocery stores throughout the week using his bike and a small attached trailer. He also picks up recyclable products at downtown businesses such as Village Deli, Soma, Nick’s English Hut, Bloomington Bagel Co. and others and drives them to a recycling sorting site.

He employs three part-time riders and said he could add another six in the next three or four months. The business is profitable, he said.

“I’m keeping extremely busy,” he said. “It’s a real job, let me tell you.”
Fresh Air Taxis, the bicycle rickshaw service, is another up-and-coming Bloomington cycle service. 

Waggoner, like Roeder, doesn’t see fighting gas prices as his main priority.  
He started the business because he says it’s a “fun and romantic” way to travel across campus and around downtown. 

“We’re going to have a market regardless of what gas prices do,” he said.
However, the process hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride.

Due to a city code that prevents soliciting in the roadway, Waggoner has been prevented from taking fares in the street.

He’s also faced some opposition from other taxi companies.
Right now, he’s not charging passengers for rides.

“I’m doing events, and sometimes I go out for free just to prove that there’s no impedance to the other taxi companies,” he said.

He’s tried to resolve the situation with the city by applying for a taxi license and a horse and buggy license. The city denied him both times, saying he didn’t qualify.
Waggoner recently submitted another request to the Bloomington City Council to change a city code so he could receive fares in the roadway. He’s hopeful it will go through.

“I’m very optimistic because the council members are in favor, and all kinds of people in the government and board of tourism are in favor,” he said.

Wason, the assistant economic development director, said the city is actively looking into the issue.  

“We’ve been working internally here at the city for a month or so now,” he said, “just researching what other cities have done in terms of the type of business Chris is planning on operating.”

Wason said he understands Waggoner’s frustration, but notes that putting such a law through is a delicate process that requires negotiation on several ends.

“We’re trying to work with the city council members to make sure we’re addressing their concerns,” he said. “You’ve got to put the public safety at the top of this issue, making sure the operation of the business occurs in a safe manner and within the realms of the law.”

If Fresh Air receives city approval, Waggoner said the fares would vary based on the length of the ride, time of day and the number of hills along the route. A trip from Kilroy’s Bar & Grill, 502 E. Kirkwood Ave. to Kilroy’s Sports Bar, 319 N. Walnut Ave., could cost about $6, he said.

He plans to start a similar service in Nashville, Ind., too.

Next year, if all goes well, he could expand to Indianapolis, Evansville, St. Louis or Louisville, he said.

“I think the primary marketing comes from just being outdoors in the fresh air,” he said, “which is the name of the business.”