OCEAN CITY, Md. - During Tuesday's Mayor and City Council meeting, the Town of Ocean City heard a pedicab franchise proposal from Deputy City Manager Elton JR Harmon.
Discussions to bring pedicab services to the Ocean City boardwalk have returned after meetings back in February. The town feels this could provide a safer mode of transportation along the boardwalk.
In the meeting, Harmon shared that there was a question-and-answer session on April 10. Nine bidders appeared both in person and virtually. Harmon says he is confident in two of those bidders.
These discussions come after an accident in 2024, when a two-year-old boy was struck and killed by a tram near Dorchester Street.
In the meeting, the demand-based pedicab service was said to be intended to be run by one operating franchise, as opposed to multiple freelancing individuals, and would run about 20 pedicabs.
Harmon proposed that the pedicabs would run from Memorial Day up until Labor Day and utilize the same path that the former town-operated tram once traveled along. In the proposal, Harmon shared hopes of having this service be one that could also be used for events such as Winter Fest and other large events.
Billy Nayden, who often visits the Ocean City Boardwalk, thinks pedicabs could provide a great way for people to see more of the boardwalk in a shorter period of time. Nayden referred to areas such as New Jersey, which have a similar system, and thinks Ocean City could utilize something similar.
"I think there's plenty of people that would use it," Nayden tells CoastTV. "It wouldn't hurt to do a lane system, at least down in the lower part of the boardwalk here. So that the pedicab people know that area is easier for them to ride in, and it would be better for pedestrians, and not have them coming up behind them."
However, some who use the boardwalk, such as Chris Dent, feel like the boardwalk gets crowded enough by foot traffic alone.
"It's just gotten (to be) too much traffic on the boardwalk," Dent says. "Too many people and it's tough on the parents watching their kids, moving every direction."
Four council members approved, and the ordinance will move to its first reading, where it will be discussed again on May 4, and Harmon intends for bids to be in and opened on April 21.Â
