Sometimes people ask how to become a pedicab. Well, if you are not going to purchase a trike, you need to rent one. Call the telephone number posted on the rear (bottom, usually,) of the bike style you like best. The owner/manager will have a trainer and a trike with permits and insurance and storage. Have a driver's license, attain a business license, get a passport picture and a pedicab permit from the city's transportation department. If you want to own one, I don't know what to tell you; ask an owner about it or possible sales. They also are responsible for the advertisements. For advertising, also contact the owner or manager.
How to Drive a Vehicle with Pedicabs on the Road [The boring, un-fun stuff first]
First thing's first: do NOT hit us. some of us, like myself, are really good at taking down license plate and other car information. don't hit us. don't even joke about it The end.
The DMV provides safe driving tips in their driver's safety manual. Even better tips are available for anyone who takes a driver's safety class to remove points off of their record. These are the x-seconds rules for freeway driving (how far behind another vehicle one should be at in whatever condition prevails).
Here's one urban driving tip I have from my sister. if you are in a regular passenger vehicle stopped at an intersection, you should be stopped so that you can at least fully see the bottom of the bumper of the vehicle in front of you. (I would imagine that vans, SUV, and other larger vehicles need the clearance of seeing the bottom of the rear wheels of the car in front of them. you can grab a buddy and figure your own clearances for that). Usually a pedicab can get through this amount of space.Those of us with experience are usually pretty agile.
it also helps for you to be in alignment with the vehicle in front of you, so that the rickshaw (a.k.a. pedicab, surrey, etc) can pass by fluidly, or get to a side in which it does pass fluidly. A car blocking our path of travel hinders our business.
Potholes are fun, they are fun to steer around & a surprise to bump; they do, however, cause more gas consumption for cars. No one likes their jobs negated (ie. my fuel saving pedicabbing vs. the wasted gasoline caused by potholes). As previously stated, potholes are fun. The "rainbow-shaped" or bowed streets are NOT. These make the requirement of driving to the side of the road extremely strenuous and aggrevating. In a city where weather is not a frequent occurance, it does not make ANY sense for such huge deluges of rain happen, what, maybe two days in every ten year period?!?! Pedicabs are on the roads every day AND have been put into future city planning. Why are we so marginalized? There IS more than one type of storm drainage that could have been/could be employed. One thing's for sure, urban planners and architects should not be hired from elsewhere 10-year, or longer permanent residents only from now on PLEASE! these other people do not know or consider enough,it's too obvious when encountering these counterergonomics !... i could go into particular structures of municipal service buildings and thee fengshui of the buildings, but then you would definitely know what I'm talking about.
Momentum is not a wonderful thing to loose. Sometimes it is really hard going uphill. Sometimes pedicabs run red lights, get caught struggling through an intersection, or just slow at a stop sign. Please, respect that we pedicabs are 1)independently contracted, self-employed, and often don't make enough money 2)PHYSICALLY working, and working HARD 3)Carrying Other Individuals! not their phone company, their parents, their employers, affiliations, etc. etc etc.
4)like sketch artists (which, imho, should be employed in the courtrooms a lot more than they are), pedicabs are not 100perecent accurate with everything; almost all of us try to help/do the best we can with what we can. ... like taxis, even tips to us could viably be used as a business expense writeoff (i say this as i have not written a receipt in over a year).
Honk to say hi or warn us of an imminent danger, but please, don't honk to be an asshole. i am not a horse or mule, nor am i in the flintstones. generally speaking, i stopped receiving these comments after 2006; should i start receiving such degrating comments again, i will do as i did with the license plates and positive i.d. with my camera phone.
(If i could get $15 for every license plate number i have taken down for something, I could retire, I swear).
The fun stuff., Drunk people are usually pretty cool to talk with. I'm still pretty non-judgemental, so when i get into a good conversation, I usually like it., within perameters. It's a great way to get ouit on the town without haavbing to be drinking or partying,. is i drinky writi now er whutt... =P