Pedicabs in NYC and India

The Post includes a travel article on moving around NYC via pedicab.

Rickshaws are pervasive in Asia, where the economical bicycles with big back seats jostle for space among mopeds, cars, beasts of burden and swarms of pedestrians. In the United States, they're more of a novelty than a necessity but are a rousing ride nonetheless. Though passengers are not as vulnerable as the biker, they're still thrust into the chaotic street scene.

"It's a combination of entertainment and transportation," said Manhattan Rickshaw owner Peter Meitzler, who was instrumental in bringing pedicabs to New York. "It's fun and environmental and fills a niche."

And another about the come back that the much-maligned pedicabs in India are making.

Now, however, in a time of $7-a-gallon fuel in New Delhi and growing concerns about pollution, environmental activists and transportation experts are pushing back against rickshaw critics. And rickshaw cyclists are seizing the moment to tout the virtues of their trade.

Last year, New Delhi banned them in the old walled neighborhood known as Chandni Chowk. An international nonprofit group, the Initiative for Transportation and Development Policy, challenged the ban in India's Supreme Court this month, saying current economic and environmental conditions have made rickshaws more necessary than ever.

New Delhi's Center for Science and Environment is also pushing for the court to overturn the ban in Chandni Chowk. The group has pointed to increases in the city's pollution and in the number of children with asthma, blaming the growing number of motor vehicles. India's economic boom is adding nearly 1,000 cars a day to the capital's streets.

Some activists in India cite the increasing number of bicycle rickshaws being used in cities such as London, Paris, New York and Washington, often in neighborhoods with high congestion and heavy foot traffic. Local governments have welcomed the rickshaws as environmentally friendly alternatives.

There are an estimated 600,000 bicycle rickshaws in New Delhi serving an estimated 4 million customers. Trips range from one to six miles.

I haven't seen much of DC's two pedicab companies out on the streets. But then I don't stay out as late as I used to.

Comments

[Contrarian]

Interesting phrase in the Post article: "Though passengers are not as vulnerable as the biker..."

Of course, there's no reason to believe that the front of a rickshaw is any more or less dangerous than the rear. What it is, however, is more visually exposed. I suspect that the exposure that a bicycle gives -- especially compared to the relative anonymity of an automobile -- is a subconscious reason a lot of people get a bad feeling about cycling in traffic. And perhaps, a subconscious reason why some motorists react so negatively at the sight of a cyclist.

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Actually, a rickshaw is a cart pulled by a human on foot. One that is pulled by bicycle is called a trishaw.