Bicycle taxi taking Wismar by storm

In the trying economic times, people are daily conjuring up creative ideas to earn their livelihood.
And 35-year-old Seon Semple, of Christianburg, Wismar, classically fits the mould of enterprising entrepreneur.

Seon Semple at work with bicycle taxi

This adventurous young man recently embarked on a mission to provide affordable taxi services for those who cannot afford a regular taxi, or who simply love the novelty of travelling “open-air”.
Semple’s “taxi’’ is really a sort of contrived carriage, which features a bicycle with an upholstered seat at the front for the passenger. Depending on size, this taxi can carry up to two or three persons at a time.
The Wismar man said that he got the idea for the business, after one of his friends whom he would sometimes take around on the “bicicleta’’, began paying him a small fee for the service.
“After that a lot of people started calling me to take them around on short trips. Even a couple of tourists requested the service, and so I started to become popular. I even have a few regular customers, who would call me, especially those that work night shifts,” Semple declared proudly.
The $100 taxi, as the service is popularly called, also doubles as a delivery service for persons making purchases too cumbersome to manually carry.
On any given day, Seon could be seen plying his trade along Burnham Drive- from Katapulli to West Watooka, or anywhere the business takes him.

(Enid Joaquin)