15-hour shifts on speed, strip club kickbacks: The last days of the pedicab wild west

To some, they've become the "scourge" of the West End. But is a coming crackdown on pedicabs about to go too far?

Pedicabs waiting for passengers at Leicester Square. Photo credit: escapetheofficejob

Morning — even the King has hated on the neon-lit, boombox-blasting rickshaws of the West End. "A bill will be introduced to deal with the scourge of unlicensed pedicabs in London,” said his maj at the King’s Speech in November 2023. To be fair, he was only acting as the mouthpiece for the then-Conservative government, which was preparing to give TfL the power to regulate the trade.

Nearly a year on, that bill has now passed and the pedicab crackdown is imminent. And, according to those privy to the draft rules, it’s going to be tough. A “sledgehammer to crack a nut” is the view of one source who’s spoken to journalist Tom Duggins. They say an initial “light-touch” approach has been ditched in favour of more “draconian” measures — due to lobbying from another London transport interest.

Today we bring you Tom’s look at the last days of London’s pedicab wild west. Aside from getting the scoop on the coming crackdown, he’s sounded out pedicab drivers, both current and former. Many say they welcome pedicab regulation, hopeful it’ll repair their reputation after recent reports of scams. But veterans also tell Tom the scene has always had a hint of lawlessness — whether that be drivers resorting to amphetamines to make it through shifts, or finding extra ways to make cash from their passengers’ vices.

The past and future of the London pedicab are below.

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“The real way to get paid was kickbacks from strip clubs”: London’s pedicabs prepare for crackdown

By Tom Duggins

A pedicab on Oxford Street. Photo credit: Tony Farrugia

“Some of these guys make money that is beyond your imagination. Three or five thousand pounds a night.” These are the words of Florian, a Romanian pedicab driver who has been carting tourists around London’s West End for more than 10 years. Incensed by what he sees as a proliferation in scammers over recent years, he’s enthusiastic about the government’s newly passed Pedicabs (London) Act 2024 and feels hopeful that tighter regulation could clean up the industry. “We have a bad reputation because of only a few guys,” he said. “They try to charge people £300 for a 15-minute ride. It’s not right, making in a day what some of us don’t make in a week.”