How much is a 15 Minute Cab Ride

What to Expend $442 On A 15 Minute Taxi Drive

Bike rack, taxi-vehicle hybrids (as in the picture) must not be a poor one. It is what the drivers and the drivers agreed. "In August last year, someone was billed $442 to go from Mary Poppins to a place named Milos," says Laramie Flick, a Pedicab racer and chairman of the owner community.

lt took about 15 mins. "Drivers tell them it's a buck a pad before the ride," says Fleck. "And after the ride, he said it was a buck a bloc, yes, but it was at least $100 a bloc. "New York City doesn't want visitors to get out of the city and feel like they're being picked up by a cyclist.

Thus, the town worked with Fleck and the driver team to develop new regulations that will come into force next weekend. Riders can still select their own fares. A minute. Patch like the new rule. Others don't. Eight-year-old Ibrahim Donmez says the fare should be predicated on advance negotiations - perhaps more if the track leads upwards, if it rains or if there are many people travelling.

Alternatively, you might bill less if it's a one-way trip. "It'?s a human-powered company," says Donmez. These industries include bicycle rickshaws, bicycles with large trolleys on the back to drag pedestrians around town. NPR Planet Money crew Zoe Chace is taking us out on the road to declare. Suppose you're in Midtown Manhattan at peak time.

Most notorious is that last August someone was asked $442 to go from Mary Poppins to a place named Milos.

CHACE: That's about a quarter of a kilometer. That' Laramie Fleck, cyclist. Before the ride, he said it was a buck a pad. According to the trip he said to them that it was one buck per bloc, yes, but it was at least 100 bucks per capita. Surprisingly, they did pay.

He' s in favor, he's chairman of the paedicab community. Eight years old Ibrahim Danmez, who has been driving pedicabs, is not a supporter of the new rules. I demand $20 for two and they want me to demand $20 for three. CHACE: So you're saying you want more when you have a really hard one?

Of course. CHACE: Or what if it's mainly going upwards, or it's rain, or the passenger is rude or just irritating? The whole deal rests on the push, just like the pushers in Times Square. CHACE: But many riders of pedicabs are excited to be controlled in order to loose their obtrusive image because it discourages them.

It'?s something so rowdy, quiet, Laramie says, it's still verbal propaganda. You see guys in the pedicabinet, they have the whole of their lives, they have a big broad face smiles, they enjoy the town. Then, you know, in about three mins, you know, the whole remainder of their days, they're gonna complain about the pedicate that just cost them $90.

CHACE: The new regulations will come into force next year. Riders of the Footballs can still come up with anything they want, as long as they clearly put it up and the tariff is set as is. A minute, not, say, a quid. Zoë Chace, NPR News.