NEW YORK (AP) -- Putting the brakes on the bicycle taxi industry before it spins out of control, the City Council on Wednesday created licensing and safety standards while capping the number of the contraptions allowed on the streets.
The pedicabs, which look like giant tricycles with passenger carriages in the back, are a mode of transport for tourists and some residents who favor pollution-free alternatives or want to cut through vehicular traffic jams.
But as pedicabs have become more popular, particularly in bustling tourist areas such as Times Square or Fifth Avenue near Central Park, some critics have said they actually cause traffic jams because they tend to congregate on corners as they troll for customers. They are a common sight around tourist attractions and stadiums in many major cities, including Orlando, Fla., Denver, Boston, Houston and San Diego.
A number of cities have already adopted regulations or are considering them. In Las Vegas, pedicabs were banned from the Strip, where critics said they posed a danger to riders and pedestrians.
There have been no known fatal pedicab accidents in New York, but some passengers have been injured in collisions with cars and buses. A 2001 pedicab crash in which one passenger's shoulder was hurt resulted in a settlement for nearly $2 million. In San Diego last year, a rider suffered a serious head injury when he fell out of a pedicab and was hit by a car.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the pedicab law would increase safety.
"This bill will go a long way to adding to street safety where pedicabs are operating, to add to the safety of those who are operating pedicabs and to add to the safety of those who are riding in pedicabs,'' she said.
Pedicabs have rolled around New York for years without any sort of regulation, unlike the city's yellow taxis, horse-drawn carriages and other vehicles for hire.
Since the council took up the issue last year, pedicab associations said they supported the effort and welcomed regulation to help weed out reckless drivers and companies.
But some angry pedicab drivers and groups gathered at City Hall on Wednesday, saying the legislation goes too far.
Among other things, capping the number of pedicabs at 325 amounts to a "pedicab death sentence,'' they said.
"If they do this, that means that many of us will lose our jobs,'' said driver Mega Martinez. "The city is regulating us out of business.''
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has estimated that there are between 300 and 400 pedicabs currently operating and that about half the devices on the streets each day are not insured.
The law approved by the City Council on Wednesday creates a regulatory framework that includes licensing and insurance requirements and stipulates that each pedicab must post its formula for calculating fares.
