From the JMBzine Vault – May 25, 2001

This post is from the JMBzine Blog Vault, which means it is a very old blog post that I wrote at a very different time of my life. My views on religion (I’m now a Humanistic Jew), politics (today I’m a democratic socialist), and many other subjects (LGBTQ+ inclusion, abortion rights, etc.) have drastically changed over the years, so please bear this in mind when reading this post.

Here is my LTE in the Austin Chronicle:

Pedi-Cab Power

Editor:

I have an idea on how we can reduce air pollution, promote tourism, and help the economy!

How? By granting a waiver to the $50-per-quarter fee that the city charges for pedi-cabs.

By doing this, Austin will gain cleaner air (pedi-cabs are human-powered and pollution-free), a very cool tourist attraction (what other city our size has so many pedi-cabs?), and a residual boost in the economy from the tax cut.

If you agree that the city should do this, be sure and sign the online petition for this proposal at pedicabpetition.cjb.net.

Thanks!

James M. Branum

Editor’s Note (2023): In the Spring and Fall of 2001, I was working as a #Pedicab driver in Austin. Here is a picture of me from that era: