San Diego will soon have a new tool to help regulate the local pedicab industry, giving authorities the ability to require operators to possess a valid California driver’s license if they want to hawk for fares and cruise for passengers. On Sept. 30, the last day to either veto or approve pending legislation, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2294, which state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved in August. Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2011, the opt-in bill creates within the California Vehicle Code, a definition of pedicab. Additionally, the new law will allow local governments to require successful completion of a bicycle safety course or a valid California identification card and proof of a passing grade on the written portion of the driver’s license examination, for anyone wishing to legally operate a pedicab within the city. City Councilwoman Marti Emerald, who chairs the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, said she was excited about the adoption of the bill primarily because it’s an issue that positively affects the health and safety of San Diegans. Emerald also pointed out that the new rules provide an important change in the law that will address abuses in the J1 visa program, which she said has created a business model that is causing problems in the pedicab industry. Alex Atkin, owner of Alley Cabs, a pedicab rental company located on Kettner Boulevard, said many of his local competitors are not in the business of providing pedicab rides, but instead run student visa scams that lure foreigners in with the promise of a job. Once here, they must obtain a business license, pay cash up front to rent the pedicab and work as an independent contractor, which is a direct violation of the J1 visa program. George Donavan, a part-time driver with C Street Bike Company for the past 19 months, described numerous cases of abuse by foreign drivers who he described as immune to fines and penalties because they won’t be in the country long enough to ever get to court. “We need to clean up the business,” said Emerald, who for nearly five years drove a taxi cab in Portland, Ore. during the 1970s. “We may not be able to end this international scam, but we can try and weed out some of the students that shouldn’t be here.” Pedicab driver Alicia Bannick said she expects the license requirement will likely lead to a shortage of operators, which will ultimately be bad for the business. Bannick said the majority of people drawn to the industry are foreign students who only expect to be in the country for a short period of time. At 21, Bannick, who arrived in the United States from Russia with a J1 visa, has been a pedicab operator for the past three months, while attending school to learn English. “For many foreign students, this is the only job they can find,” said Bannick, adding that in the midst of a recession, jobs are very scarce. “If you want to visit America and survive, you have to ride bike.” Bannick has already passed the written portion of the California driver’s license exam and is practicing for the behind-the-wheel test. Sean Holmes, a long-time pedicab operator from Pacific Beach, said he always thought rule changes were needed to better regulate the local market. Holmes supports the driver license requirement and hopes the new regulations, if implemented, will help weed out drivers who are unprepared or unfamiliar with the rules of the road. “This isn’t a bike, it’s a tricycle built to hold up to six people,” Holmes said. “We share the lanes with motorized vehicles, so it makes sense to require a driver’s license.”