Sarnia man hopes to get his unique business back up and running after hitting the brakes this fall

While on a family vacation in Portugal, Stephen Devlin came up with the idea to bring low speed electric rickshaws to Sarnia.

"It's environmentally friendly. With no carbon footprint,” he explained.

After doing some research, Devlin was able to get three Tuktuks shipped to Sarnia, he assembled them, and ‘Stevie Go Go’ began operating this past summer.

"It was amazing, I was on the road everyday, I have a website where people rented me for a couple of hours a day at a time, I did some bar hoping, birthday parties, bachelorette parties - tours of Canatara park, under the bridge, downtown Sarnia,” said Devlin.

Despite the fact that the vehicles were custom made to be permitted on Ontario roads and bylaws in the City of Sarnia were amended to allow the use of such vehicles — as of this past September, Stevie Go Go was a no-go.

"It's a motor vehicle act, that won't allow me to operate without helmets and doors because it's a three wheel vehicle, so now I am trying to change the motor vehicle act,” explained Devlin.

Stephen Devlin, owner/operator of Stevie Go Go in Sarnia, Ont. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)

Devlin says he has letters of support from all three levels of government and plans on having those documents brought to Ottawa.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley hopes they can cut through the red tape because the electric vehicles are a great addition to the city's waterfront.

"We just adopted a new $50 million plan, we are one of the few cities in Canada that owns all the waterfront for the public, so this is a great addition to move try to move that plan forward... To show we want interaction, to show we want people enjoying themselves,” said Bradley.

If Devlin is successful in getting Transport Canada to amend the low speed vehicle requirements, he hopes to have the tuktuks back on the road in time for next summer.   

Stephen Devlin, owner/operator of Stevie Go Go in Sarnia, Ont. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)