PedalPub Owner May Move To Evanston If He Can't Secure A Chicago Business License

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 25, 2013 7:40PM

The rolling pub crawl known as PedalPub has been conducting tours in Chicago since 2011 without a business license; the city has thrown various forms of shade in PedalPub’s direction.

Now it appears as though owner Matt Graham is at a reckoning point. Graham has taken to social media to lobby support for his attempts to obtain a Chicago business license for PedalPub. An Oct. 17 post to PedalPub Chicago’s Facebook page reads:

At issue is the BACP’s classification of the PedalPub’s unique multi-passenger vehicle which is propelled by 10 of its 16 passengers and guided by a company driver. The bikes are neither pedicabs nor motorized tour buses and therefore do not fit into any of the city’s existing business application categories. However, because of the number of passengers carried, the BACP has chosen to categorize the PedalPub vehicle as a “charter/sightseeing vehicle” which must be motorized. This license category requires compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) despite the fact that the federal government itself does not require such compliance.

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Since 2011, PedalPub has been safely operating in the Chicagoland area. Abiding by all municipal and state laws, PedalPub tours in Illinois prohibit alcohol consumption while on public property. During this period PedalPub has hosted more than 400 tours with an estimated economic impact of $320,000 to local businesses.

The city has fined Graham for operating without a business license and deceptive business practice because he failed to mention PedalPub’s unlicensed status in a Groupon offering. Graham called the city’s refusal to grant him a business license “ridiculous. We don't even go 5 mph — not even bike speed."

Graham told DNAInfo Chicago the ongoing licensing issues have forced him to conduct tours in Berwyn and may have him eyeing hosting tours in Evanston next year. Hopefully Graham has a sense of humor about the irony of moving his bike-powered pub crawl to the birthplace of America’s temperance movement.