A fair ride for every visitor: the Chamber backs pedicab reform
October 7, 2026
A pedicab ride through Times Square or Central Park should be one of the best parts of a trip to New York. Too often it's the worst: a 15-minute ride that ends with a $500 to $1,000 bill. Today the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce submitted testimony to the City Council supporting a package of reforms to fix that.
The problem isn't pedicabs. It's a system that has let illegal operators take over. The city allows up to 850 registered pedicabs, but only 278 are registered today, while an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 work our streets. A Council investigation this summer found nearly a quarter of Midtown pedicabs unregistered and many with no posted rates. Enforcement has fallen short: only 9 percent of criminal pedicab summonses from 2025 led to any penalty.
"When a visitor gets overcharged on a pedicab, it doesn't stay with the pedicab. It follows them into our theaters, restaurants, hotels and shops, and home to everyone they tell about their trip," said Jessica Walker, President and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber. "Honest operators are small businesses too, and they've been undercut for years. These reforms can make a fair ride the norm."
The Chamber is urging the Council to:
- Make prices clear. Require meters and one city-set rate per minute, so every rider knows the cost before the ride starts.
- Put a real regulator in charge. Move oversight to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which already has the inspectors and experience to do the job, and bring every reform under that one system so none gets lost.
- Make it easier to go legal. Lower insurance costs and open registration year-round, so operators who want to follow the rules can.
- Enforce fairly. Replace jail with civil penalties, and give operators a chance to fix a first paperwork mistake.
- Keep sidewalks clear. Keep pedicabs away from theater doors at curtain time, and give drivers legal places to wait that don't take loading space from storefronts.
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