London: For an outsider, it's a strange and pleasant sight to see the pedicab - akin to the cycle rickshaw in India - weave its way across the London streetscape
Since 1995, pedicabs have been a regular at West End, the entertainment area around Covent Garden, Leicester Square and the more crowded Soho, Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus.
Today there are more than 400 of them going up and down the busy London streets. And come 2012, the pedicabs will play an important role in giving the London Olympics a green image.
"The Olympic Village is trying to have 100-400 pedicabs so as to have an eco-friendly environment," said Friedel Schroder, managing director of BugBugs, the market leader in creating pedicabs since 1998.
Life is not so easy for pedicab drivers who often have to struggle to earn a meagre income.
Gokhann, 20, a Turkish national, clad in blue jeans and a black turtleneck sweater , stands in front of the Leicester Square tube station. He has been waiting for two hours for a customer to hitch a ride on his pedicab.
"Sometimes I enjoy my job. But at times, I am tired, especially when I have to pedal with four people on the pedicab," Gokhann said and added on some days he earns a mere 20 pounds.
An Egyptian national who did not wish to be named took up a job as a pedicab driver the day after he came to London almost three months ago. "Money is very difficult to come by in this job. It is difficult to go on like this," he said.
With the Olympics Village giving the nod to pedicabs, there is now some hope for Gokhann and others, as they feel the humble rickshaw could get a lot of publicity during the mega sporting event.
The pedicabs are popular among tourists who take short rides in the eco-friendly vehicle for a few pounds.
"I loved chatting with the pedicabbie when I took it from Oxford Street to Edgware Road. It's a lovely way of seeing London," said Rama Arya, a communications expert for the South African government.
A short trip from Leicester Square to Covent Garden varies from five to 10 pounds and this irks the 'big brother' - the London black cabbies.
"There's no regulation on the pedicab fares. They fleece the tourists for a five-10 minute journey. Our main problem is the congestion the pedicabs creates on the streets," said Bob Oddy, general secretary, Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA).
But pedicab driver Carl, a Polish national, refutes the allegation. He says he accepts whatever the riders give as a tip, while the fare of the journey is conveyed to the riders in advance.
Soruce:http://news.in.msn.com/national
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