Coming to America: the tuk-tuk

Open-air rickshaw taxis similar to those found in Asia may soon be a transport solution for U.S. cities. Tuk-tuks provide hop-on, hop-off flexibility and help people bridge the “last mile” gap between the bus stop and home.

Tuk-tuks (pronounce it like you’re Scottish) have long swarmed through Asian, African, and Latin American cities like grasshoppers, complementing transportation networks dominated by trains, cars, or buses on fixed routes. Tuk-tuks are easy to hail, like a taxi, but less costly since they’re really over-grown motorcycles, normally with a windshield and covered bench seating.

If the 20th century belonged to the car, the even more urbanized 21st century may be ruled by something like a tuk-tuk: Denver-based eTuk USA has joined up with the Dutch company Tuk Tuk Factory to manufacture and sell electric model tuk-tuks. The modern version is way more hip-looking and eco-oriented than the pollution-coughing versions in Thailand and India, and the company’s founders hope U.S. urban spaces will prove a good market for something that really works well in the chaotic cities of the less-developed world.

There may also be scope for private use, in the way golf carts have become a phenomenon for traveling within a subdivision or neighborhood. Michael Fox, director of sales and marketing for eTuk USA, said the vehicles sell for $16,950 to $25,000, depending on how gussied up they get. Sales have soared to marketing companies and food vendors, and also to individuals.

Fox is also a partner in another company called eTuk Denver, which provides an on-demand shuttle service for downtown Denver. The tuk-tuk service—similar to radio cabs—is just one of an increasingly diverse array of point-to-point transport options that include pedicabs, golf-carts, and ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.

Fox believes the tuk-tuk trumps other options because of its open-air design.

“When you look at a golf cart and you look at a tuk-tuk, which has more curb appeal?” he asked.

But the traditional cab drivers and bus operators that pushed back against Uber and Lyft for usurping their clientele are now raising their voices against tuk-tuks, using the issue of passenger safety. Terry Bote, a commission spokesman, said several cab and shuttle companies lobbied successfully to limit tuk-tuk travel to certain areas, as well as fleet size and passengers per vehicle.

For now, Denver tuk-tuks operate in a small downtown area and are banned from providing service to the nearby Denver Broncos football stadium—a plum destination for the traditional cab competition.

Denver already has a good bus and light rail system and Fox said his service complements them by solving the “last-mile” problem: the struggle people have right at the end of their urban journey to get from the bus stop or rail station to a final destination—somewhere too far to walk but too close or complicated to drive.

A 2012 study in New Jersey noted “last-mile” shuttles play a crucial role in linking people and jobs to rail transit, especially due to decentralization of commercial and residential areas in U.S. cities over the past few decades.

Classified as motorcycles by the U.S. Department of Transportation, tuk-tuks require drivers to wear eye protection and get a motorcycle endorsement for their driver's license. Anyone under 18 normally needs to wear a helmet. But state Rep. Paul Rosenthal said since the vehicles only travel short distances at low speeds, the helmet and eye protection law doesn’t make sense for a shuttle service.

“Say you have four kids. They would have to go find a helmet or have them on hand to do that,” he said. “It becomes cumbersome.”

Colorado’s legislature seems to be in agreement: On May 4, lawmakers passed Rosenthal’s bill to nix the requirements for a 3-wheeled motorcycle equipped with a windshield and seat belts that moves at 25 mph. But each shuttle model still has to meet standard commercial vehicle safety standards established by the federal government.

Safety is the tuk-tuk’s most commonly debated ride factor, and most other states heavily regulate three-wheeled vehicles because of the potential for serious accidents. Studies show most motorcycle accidents occur while moving at under 30 mph—breakneck speed for a tuk-tuk.

Safety concerns didn’t deter British teachers Nick Gough and Rich Sears, both 29, who traveled around the world by tuk-tuk from 2012 to 2013. If tuk-tuks can handle Kolkata and Cairo, they should do fine in Colorado.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.