Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has a message to the city’s pedicab drivers after years of few restrictions on the industry: “get licensed or get out.”  According to the New York Times, two months ago, the department invited drivers to become licensed, which means their pedicabs must undergo a rigorous inspection as well as a safety update which includes the addition of seat belts and turn signals.  Tomorrow marks the 60-day licensing deadline, meaning unregistered pedicabs will be required to close up shop or risk heavy ticketing.  Despite a boom in the past decade leading to over 1,000 pedicabs on NYC streets, only about 240 pedicab drivers have applied for licenses so far.  Some cite financial reasons for deciding not to apply, while others cannot apply since a driver’s license is required for the application and they are foreigners who work in the city illegally.  Regardless of the reason for so few license applications, Friday marks a new day for the pedicab industry, and we can expect to either see fewer pedicabs in our neighborhood and parks or more enforcement of illegal operators.

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