Pedicabs are wildly popular in quite a few American cities, such as San Diego, New York, Portland and San Francisco. While Los Angeles has had pedicab rules since 1986, two operators who tried to bring the business to the city were shutdown.
"Now, the LADOT has written up a list of new rules allegedly to help bring pedicabs back, but the rule list is so onerous and at times ridiculous that one can't help but question whether they really mean it. The new rules regulated everything from dress code, to routes, to helmet requirements for drivers and passengers and an onerous licensing procedure. Specific wording in the permitting part of the application require that during licensing, all potential operators submit routes, maps, hours of operation and other parts of their business plan for review by the LADOT in conjunction with the local council offices and the LAPD."
Comments
Miami Beach Pedicabs
I went through a similar process with the City of Miami Beach for 5 years.
The City of Miami Beach did everything in their power to make it
unprofitable for pedicab operators to operate a business. Eventually the
City Manager, Jorge Gonzalez, realizing he could not stop pedicabs from
operating issued an ”Administrative Policy(???)” that said “due to a public
safety issues” pedicabs would not be allowed to operate on any of the major
North/South thoroughfares. For anyone that is familiar with South Beach
Collins Avenue, Ocean Drive, and Washington Avenue, were consider hazardous
to the public’s safety. These are the streets where all the tourists
congregate. Ludicrous regulations such as helmet requirements were also
included in the pedicab ordinance. Good luck to those in LA!