According to Winston-Salem’s Transportation Director Jeff Fansler, pedicabs will be a “city-wide service.” Following the city council’s unanimous approval of a new ordinance on Monday night, pedicabs are now permitted to roam across the whole city, but they’re limited to roads with speed limits of 35 mph and below. Pedicabs are modified bicycles with seats on the back to transport passengers. Other North Carolina cities such as Charlotte and Greensboro allow them, and city staff such as Fansler believe that welcoming these alternate modes of transportation to the city would also introduce a “new economic opportunity for the downtown area.” 

On Monday, Mayor Pro Tempore DD Adams spoke in favor of this new mode of transportation, saying, “You find whenever you go to conventions or other bigger cities or events, they have [pedicabs].” Adams added that while people want cities to be walkable, “there are people with knee surgeries and bad knees and bad hips and old people.”

“That would be a big aid to people,” she added.

Official pedicab limits approved by city council on Feb. 19. (city photo)

As reported by TCB, the city took a beat on this item in January in order to give city staff some more time to develop the rules. A previous iteration of the limits that was presented last month would have allowed pedicabs to cover most of downtown and parts of Old Salem. The area was bordered by Broad and Church Streets and Highway 52, beginning in the north around Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and ending in the south around Old Salem Museum and Gardens.

A previous iteration of what the limits could have looked like, allowing pedicabs to roam around the downtown business district. (city photo)

Originally, there were supposed to be only four routes between Fourth and Eighth Streets, and the cabs could drive in a limited rectangle between Spring and Liberty Streets.

Fansler said they decided to expand the limits so as not to “put those limitations on potential providers and let the market really drive how this is rolled out in our community.”

Another previous pedicab route possibility. (city photo)

In December 2023, the city’s Transportation Operations Manager Reid Hutchins said that there will be about three pedicabs circulating city streets once the ordinance is adopted.

Other rules state that pedicabs have to be equipped with brake lights and a headlight, as well as turn signals and seatbelts. The operators are required to hold a valid driver’s license and insurance. Inspection fees are $10 for inspection and $5 for reinspection. Vehicles will be inspected by the city. Also, pedicab operators must adhere to all traffic rules and aren’t allowed to ride on sidewalks, greenways or places meant for pedestrians or cyclists. They can’t drive against the flow of traffic or stop in the middle of the street — passengers getting on or off must do so in an on-street parking space or a loading zone.

All CityBeat reporting content is made possible by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund, available to republish for free by any news outlet who cares to use it. Learn More ↗

Republish this story 🞬

Republishing Content

All content created for the CityBeat— photos, illustrations and text — is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 license (CCA-ND).

These republishing rules DO NOT apply to all of our content. The CityBeat is a nonprofit-funded position that specifically reports on city council business in Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

You are free to republish all content from the CityBeat under the following conditions:

  • Please copy and paste an html tracking code into articles you post online, allowing us to access analytics on our work.
    It can be dropped onto the page right beneath the copyable content, available below.

    If your site is using Google Analytics already:

    <script>
    gtag('config', 'UA-49884744-1');
    gtag('event', 'page_view', {
        page_title: 'Pedicabs approved as a “city-wide service” in Winston-Salem',
        page_location: 'https://triad-city-beat.com/pedicabs-approved-as-a-city-wide-service-in-winston-salem/',
        send_to: 'UA-49884744-1'
    });
</script>

    If your site is not using Google Analytics: 

    <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-49884744-1"></script>
<script>
    window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
    function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
    gtag('js', new Date());
    gtag('config', 'UA-49884744-1');
    gtag('event', 'page_view', {
        page_title: 'Pedicabs approved as a “city-wide service” in Winston-Salem',
        page_location: 'https://triad-city-beat.com/pedicabs-approved-as-a-city-wide-service-in-winston-salem/',
        send_to: 'UA-49884744-1'
    });
</script>

  • Please use our bylines with attribution to Triad City Beat with a live link to our website: "by Gale Melcher/Triad City Beat"
  • At the bottom of the article (print or web) please include this text (links may be hyperlinked online):

    "Triad City Beat is an independent, for-profit news source serving the cities of the NC Piedmont Triad in Guilford and Forsyth counties, online at triad-city-beat.com.
    CityBeat content is funded by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund, online at nclocalnews.org."

  • If you have any questions, please contact Brian Clarey at [email protected]

Join the First Amendment Society, a membership that goes directly to funding TCB‘s newsroom.

We believe that reporting can save the world.

The TCB First Amendment Society recognizes the vital role of a free, unfettered press with a bundling of local experiences designed to build community, and unique engagements with our newsroom that will help you understand, and shape, local journalism’s critical role in uplifting the people in our cities.

All revenue goes directly into the newsroom as reporters’ salaries and freelance commissions.

⚡ Join The Society ⚡