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DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The Director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), pursuant to the authority in Sections 3(b), 5(2)(K) (developing safe bicycle policies), 5(3)(D) (allocating and regulating on street parking and curb regulations), and 6(b) and (c) (transferring functions delegated to DPW) of the Department of Transportation Establishment Act of 2002 (“DDOT Establishment Act”), effective May 21, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-137; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-921.02(b), 50-921.04(2)(K), (3)(D), and 50-921.05(b) and (c) (2009 Repl.), and Sections 6(a)(1), (a)(2)(B), 6(a)(6) and 6(b), of the District of Columbia Traffic Act, approved March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1121; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-2201.03(a)(1), (a)(2)(B), (a)(6), and (b) (2009 Repl.)), and Mayor’s Order 2013-63, dated April 2, 2013, hereby gives notice of the intent to adopt rules that amend Chapters 12 (Bicycles, Motorized Bicycles, and Miscellaneous Vehicles), and 99 (Definitions) of Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), in not less than thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
The proposed regulations will clarify that a pedicab shall not be motorized, clarify where the tail lights must be mounted, change the requirement for the display of reflective tape to only on the side of the pedicab, add a new requirement for the display of a slow- moving vehicle emblem on the rear of the pedicab, clarify that all passengers must fit within the confines of the pedicab passenger area when the pedicab is in motion, remove the requirement for all passengers to be seated while a pedicab is in motion because it is no longer needed, add trees to the list of prohibited attachment points, combine the lighting requirements for a pedicab, restrict pedicab operation to the rightmost travel lane of a roadway, and list the exceptions when a pedicab may be operated other than in the right most travel lane.
Additionally, this rulemaking will add a new Section 1217, which will prohibit the operation of multi-seat pedal cycles on public roadway in the District of Columbia. The rationale behind the prohibition of multi-seat pedal cycles is that the vehicle use is primarily for group entertainment, rather than for transportation on the District’s roadways. Also, due to their large size, typically six feet wide or more without passengers, and their slow speed of no more than five miles per hour, the operation of multi-seat pedal cycles presents an undue traffic operation hazard on the District’s roadways. The rulemaking also defines a public bike path.
Title 18, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
Chapter 12, BICYCLES, MOTORIZED BICYCLES, AND MISCELLANEOUS VEHICLES, is amended as follows.
Section 1213, PEDICABS, is amended to read as follows:
1213 PEDICABS
1213.1 Pedicabs shall be propelled solely by human power and shall be operated in accordance with the safe operation of bicycle regulations set forth in § 1201.
1213.2 Notwithstanding § 1213.1, pedicabs shall be operated only on public streets.
1213.3 Each pedicab shall meet the following safety requirements:
(a) The maximum width of the pedicab shall be fifty-five inches (55 in.);
(b) The maximum length of the pedicab shall be ten feet (10 ft.);
(c) The pedicab shall be equipped with:
(1) Passenger seat belts (either one (1) seat belt for each passenger or one (1) seat belt that covers all passengers);
(2) Hydraulic or mechanical disc or drum brakes, which shall be unaffected by rain or wet conditions;
(3) At least one (1) and no more than two (2) battery-operated head lamps capable of projecting a beam of white light for a distance of three hundred feet (300 ft.) in front of the pedicab, under normal atmospheric conditions at the times that use of the head lamp is required;
(4) Battery-operated tail lamps mounted on the upper right and left areas of the rear of the pedicab, which, when operated, shall emit a red beam of light visible from a distance of five hundred feet (500 ft.) to the rear, under normal atmospheric conditions at the times that use of the head lamp is required;
(5) Turning lights;
(6) A bell or other device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet (100 ft.); and
(7) Reflectors on the spokes of the wheels of the pedicab.
(d) Reflective tape shall be affixed on the pedicab in accordance with the following requirements:
(1) The tape shall be at least two inches (2 in.) wide;
(2) The tape shall be at least twelve inches (12 in.) long; and
(3) There shall be at least one (1) piece of tape on each side of the pedicab.
(e) A triangular shaped slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblem conforming to the American National Standards Institute standard S276.7, shall be permanently affixed to the rear of the pedicab as follows:
(1) With one (1) point up;
(2) As close to the horizontal center of the pedicab as possible; and
(3) No less than two feet (2 ft.) and no more than six feet (6 ft.) above the roadway surface as measured from the lower edge of the emblem.
1213.4.1 Each pedicab shall be operated in accordance with the following provisions:
(a) All passengers shall be seated within the confines of the pedicab passenger seating area while the pedicab is in motion;
(b) All passengers shall have a seatbelt securely fastened while the pedicab is in motion. There shall be affixed to the pedicab a sign stating that all passengers shall have a seatbelt securely fastened while the pedicab is in motion, and the sign shall be clearly visible to passengers ;
(c) A pedicab shall not be operated on a roadway with a posted speed limit of more than thirty miles per hour (30 m.p.h.);
(d) A pedicab may not be operated or parked on a sidewalk;
(e) Pedicab passengers shall be loaded and off-loaded while the pedicab is stopped;
(f) No pedicab operator shall stop to load or unload passengers on the traffic- facing side of the pedicab, while occupying any intersection or crosswalk, or in such a manner as to unduly interfere with the orderly flow of traffic. All pedicab operators shall pull as close to the curb or edge of the roadway as possible to take on or discharge passengers;
(g) A pedicab shall not be parked in a restricted zone identified for other vehicles, including, but not limited to, parking meter zones, residential permit parking zones, valet parking zones, bus zones, taxicab zones;
(h) A pedicab shall not be tied, cabled, or otherwise attached to a parking meter, street light pole, tree, or other public space asset;
(i) At any time from one half (1/2) hour after sunset to one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise, and at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of five hundred feet (500 ft.) ahead, a pedicab shall be operated as follows:
(1) With a headlamp of sufficient intensity to reveal a person or a vehicle from a distance of three hundred feet (300 ft.); and
(2) With tail lamps capable of being seen from a distance of five hundred feet (500 ft.);
(j) When operating a pedicab upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic, a person shall travel in the right-most travel lane.
(k) Notwithstanding paragraph (j) of this subsection, a pedicab may be operated in a travel lane other than the rightmost travel lane when:
(1) Operating in a lane designated for bicycles;
(2) Preparing to access a lane designated for bicycles;
(3) Preparing for a turn;
(4) Encountering road hazards or parked vehicles;
(5) Necessary to comply with lane use restrictions;
(6) Necessary for passenger safety; or
(7) Directed to do so by a police officer or other law enforcement or public safety official or by a traffic control officer.
1213.5 No one shall operate or be in control of a pedicab while the person’s alcohol concentration is eight hundredths of a gram (0.08 g) or more either per one hundred milliliters (100 ml) of blood or per two hundred and ten liters (210 L) of breath or one tenth of a gram (0.10 g) or more per one hundred milliliters (100 ml) of urine, or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or any combination thereof, or while the ability to operate a vehicle is impaired by the consumption of intoxicating liquor.
A new Section 1217 is added to read as follows:
1217 MULTI-SEAT PEDAL CYCLES
1217.1 No person shall operate, park, or stand any multi-seat pedal cycle, or cause any multi-seat pedal cycle to operate, park, or stand on any public bicycle path, public highway, or other public right-of-way within the District of Columbia.
Chapter 99, GENERAL PROVISIONS, is amended as follows:
Section 9901, DEFINITIONS, is amended as follows
The definition for Pedicab is amended to read as follows:
Pedicab – a bicycle with a single frame that connects two (2) rear wheels and one (1) front wheel or one (1) rear wheel and two (2) front wheels that is designed to be propelled by no more than one (1) person, that transports, or is capable of transporting, passengers on seats attached to the bicycle, and that is used for transporting passengers for hire.
New definitions for multi-seat pedal cycle and public bicycle path are added in alphabetical order to read as follows:
Multi-seat pedal cycle - a bicycle with three or more wheels that is designed and constructed to permit seating by more than two people, that is propelled by human power, and that is designed to permit propulsion by more than two individuals simultaneously. A multi-seat pedal cycle includes, but is not limited to conference bicycles, sightseeing pedal buses, or pedal taverns. A multi-seat pedal cycle shall not include a tandem bicycle.
Public bicycle path - means a right-of-way under the jurisdiction and control of the District of Columbia for use primarily by bicycles and pedestrians.
All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter in this proposed rulemaking may file comments in writing, not later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, with Samuel D. Zimbabwe, Associate Director, District Department of Transportation, 55 M Street, S.E., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003. An interested person may also send comments electronically to publicspace.policy@dc.gov. Copies of this proposed rulemaking are available, at cost, by writing to the above address, and are also available electronically, at no cost, on the District Department of Transportation’s website at www.ddot.dc.gov.
