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The Ins and Outs of Pedicabs

 

Pedicabs are seen all over the downtown area of Austin, Texas and have been a source of transportation for Austin residents as well as visitors for many years. They are a group of unique individuals, all with various fascinating stories from life and their work as a pedicab driver.

Pedicab drivers wait for customers on the designated street corners
on 6th street in Austin, Texas as the competor taxi cab
speeds by.




Sid Dwoskin smiles as she presents her pedicab.

First, let us describe the legitimacy of the pedicab drivers. Sid Dwoskin, a recent addition to the pedicab industry this past summer described this process. No they are not a random group of people that simply strap a trailer to the back of their bikes, but rather licensed drivers by the state of Texas. Before they begin their jobs as pedicab drivers, they must first go through the bureaucratic rules. There is a licensing process that they must go through first with the Texas Department of Public Safety where they learn the rules of pedicabs on the roads, just like the process for driving a car. Once licensed, they complete the application and interview process for the pedicab company they wish to work for. After hiring, they sign leases for the pedicab, either a monthly lease or a nightly lease, and begin to peddle for their earnings (typically $5/head for 5 blocks, $10/head for 10 blocks, $20/head for 20 blocks, etc).



The complaint number for the Dirtnail Co., employer of
A.J. Grigson, Sid Dwoskin, and Vinnie Contreraz.

“It’s very strictly governed and there’s a lot of things going on that people don’t see,” said A.J. Grigson, a longtime driver from the pedicab company Dirtnail Co., when describing the governmental process to become a pedicab driver.

As a pedicab driver in downtown Austin, an area notorious for the typically under-the-influence social nightlife, a driver can understandably experience a variety of interesting stories. Rebecca Hubinsky, a recent addition to the pedicab industry in August of 2012, got a reality check the first night of starting when she got two “barfers” off the side of her pedicab back to back. Many other drivers admit to being groped during their rides by their customers. Some attempt to lie down restrictions with their customers, but many times its hopeless to bargain with the drunks they drive. Instances like this are reoccurring events for a pedicab driver.

A.J. Grigson picks up a customer in downtown Austin.

“You get a lot of crazy party girls, a lot of crazy drunks. You know. I try to avoid the craziness, but it will eventually come to me,” veteran driver A.J Grigson said, “Pedicabs are Transportainment; a combination of transportation and entertainment.”

It takes a lot of tenacity and hard work to continue with this type of work. When figuring out the weight these drivers pull, it is easy to see the extreme amount of physical strength involved. A.J. Grigson breaks down the weight they pull up the hills of Austin: typically the trailer is about 150 pounds and then the passengers vary from 100-300 pounds on top of that. “400-500 pounds if you’re working a football game,” said Vinnie Contreraz, a Dirtnail Co. pedicap driver. Clearly these drivers are extremely hard-working, but they are also able to kick back and have a good time after they call it a night.



“We’re really chill people. We bust ass all night. We’re all trying to make money by working hard,” said A.J. Grigson as he described the subculture of the pedicab companies.



A.J. Grigson, Sid Dwoskin, and Vinnie Contreraz
wait and socialize with each other for the bars on 6th
street to close, in order to catch the flood of people
needing a ride home.

After a long hard night of driving drunks around, many of the pedicab drivers go back to the warehouse or “shop” where they store the bikes and they just kick back and enjoy themselves. Vinnie Contreraz describes how their parties aren’t the normal high school house parties, but instead a group of people having a blast after they kill themselves all night. “You become one big family,” Vinnie Contreraz said. October 2012.

 

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Home Is Where The Heart Is 

“Croatia is where my heart is, but Austin is where my life is,” says University of Texas at Austin Rower, Tea Vrtlar. Tea is among the many student athletes at the University of Texas who have taken the great leap across the pond to the United States from foreign countries. “I believe things in life happen with a purpose…being at the University of Texas will bring me to better places in the future. I cannot wait to see what those are,” said Tea in regards to whether she has experienced any regrets about leaving her home in Croatia and coming to Texas. Tea realizes that the thing that probably helped the most in her move was the ability to “not rely on emotions” whenever she had to leave her family behind her. Other athletes have had to acknowledge emotions as well in order to make such a big move.

One of Tea’s teammates, Jessica Glennie, made what she likes to call “a big emotional leap” when she moved to Texas from New Zealand to study architecture at the university. Many other schools were looking at Jessica for rowing, including Princeton and University of Virginia, but she settled on choosing Texas despite going to a school “in the middle of nowhere.” She soon discovered after living and experiencing the city as a whole, that it isn’t quite in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. She was in fact “blown away” by the trees, hills, Greenbelt, the beautiful lake, the music, the food and “weirdness everywhere you go.” Indeed Austin, Texas was not what she expected. “I have grown so much as a person because I got out of my comfortable bubble in New Zealand,” Jessica stated when asked if she’s ever experienced regrets about moving so far away from home. She was able to develop her independence through moving to Texas, but she admits that she stays in close contact with her father and her “bestie” whenever she has difficulties. Through technology, she is able to call her father regularly whenever there are any worries she has about her sport. She is likewise able to call her bestie back in New Zealand when she just needs to have a vent session about her friends and boyfriend troubles. She states that because her father and her best friend are so far away, they are able to give her a new perspective on any given situation. Luckily, she is able to go back home about every 4 months for summer break for 3 months and Christmas break for about 2-4 weeks, so her daddy, best friend and boyfriend fixes can be fulfilled. Other close ties to home can be found in other athletes as well.

“I am never going to say never, but Australia will always be home for me,” said Tennis player Joey Swaysland, over Facebook messaging, when asked about staying in America verses returning home. After a tremendous hassle with the paperwork and VISAs in order to come over to America to study, Joey was able to arrive in Austin and utilize the “awesome coaches, world class environments, great climate, and really good school academically” which are all reasons why he chose the University of Texas, regardless of many other schools recruiting attempts. He does admit that it was tough for him to leave his “mum and dad and two sisters” for schooling so far away from home and that he has yet to return home since he moved here in January of this past year. Although, much like Jessica, he felt extreme confidence and reassurance that he made the proper decision and that he “was going to love it” with “no regrets at all” when he committed to the University of Texas. Although, such confidence in decisions don’t always occur when an athlete commits to a school so far from home.

Hannah Moon, a University of Texas Rower, had some initial difficulties when she moved across the pond from England. Through Facebook messaging she admits that for the days leading up to the plane flight to America, the plane ride itself and the first week of her life here in Austin, she spent crying. She felt she had “made a huge mistake” in moving so far from home and her family “with no chance to see them or go home if (she) really wanted.” But looking back now, she says that she is so glad that she “gritted her teeth and waited it out” because she loves it here and finds so much happiness in her decision to stay. She finds the beauty in the things that first attracted her to this school in the first place such as the school spirit, facilities and the great opportunity she has in rowing for Texas.

They say home is where the heart is. Is there a stipulation stating that once you release your heart to a certain home, it stays? Can one pick up one’s heart and move it to a new home or will it always be obtained by that first place one gave it to? Is home not actually a place, but instead a person? Do we give our heart to the loving people who raised, cared, nurtured and drilled manners into us our entire life? Or can our heart be somewhere entirely different? Could it be in our schooling? Relationships? Maybe even the sport we play? Through these athletes, home is where we’re from, but our lives can transfer and move. We will always have the roots with those we hold dear whether it is our dad, mum or besties, but we can move away and establish ourselves in a new place, with new people and quite possibly discover that the middle of nowhere isn’t quite in the middle of nowhere. Truly home will always be home, but lives can be moved to new places with new experiences. September 2012.