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Rickshaw Rides in Central Park, NYC
Private pedicab, up to 3 guests, from $20. Licensed NYC drivers.
Rickshaw, pedicab, bike taxi: one ride, three names
A rickshaw ride through Central Park is the middle setting between two bad options. Walking the park properly takes most of a day and about six miles of pavement. A bus tour keeps you outside it, circling on Central Park West and Fifth Avenue, seeing the treeline. A rickshaw goes down the paths themselves — under the elms on the Mall, over Bow Bridge, past the Bethesda Fountain — at a speed where you can still read the plaques, and it stops wherever you point.
TruRide rides are private. One pedicab, your group, up to three people, no strangers sharing the bench. Tours run from a 30-minute loop of the south end at $25 a person to a three-hour route that leaves the park entirely and ends at the Charging Bull.
In New York, rickshaw, pedicab and bike taxi all point at the same thing: a three-wheeled cycle with a covered passenger bench behind the driver. “Pedicab” is the term the city uses in its licensing code. “Rickshaw” is what most visitors say. Drivers themselves usually just say “cab.”
The word traveled a long way to get here. It comes from the Japanese jinrikisha — jin, person; riki, power; sha, vehicle — a two-wheeled cart pulled on foot that appeared in Tokyo around 1869 and spread across Asia within a decade. The pulled version never took hold in New York. What did arrive, in the late 1990s, was the pedalled descendant: same idea, bicycle drivetrain, brakes, and an electric assist for the hills at the north end.
What the city actually requires of a rickshaw driver
This part is worth two minutes of your time, because it is where visitors get caught out.
Every pedicab in New York is licensed by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The driver holds a pedicab driver license; the business holds a separate license and a registration plate, and carries liability insurance of $2 million across the fleet with the City of New York named as an insured party. Those are the rules for operating at all.
Then there are the rules about money, and they are specific:
- Every pedicab must display a sign on the outside of the vehicle and on the back of the driver’s seat stating the price charged per minute.
- Every pedicab must carry a DCWP-sealed timer, in full view, recording the total ride time.
- Charging extra for an additional passenger is illegal.
- Charging tax on the fare is illegal.
- A tip is not required.
So the legal default in this city is a meter. You get in, the clock runs, and you find out what it cost at the end. That arrangement is how visitors end up posting screenshots of four-hundred-dollar receipts for twenty-minute rides, and in August 2026 the City Council introduced two bills to tighten it: approved meters, scannable plates, and rate signs on both sides and the rear.
Our prices are on this page. You know the number before you sit down, and it does not move because traffic was slow at Columbus Circle. If you ride with anyone else in this park, ask to see the rate sign and the timer first.
How much park you actually cover
Central Park is 843 acres and 2.5 miles end to end. Distance is the whole argument for a rickshaw, so here is the honest version of what each length buys. Prices are per person; the lower figure is the child rate, ages 3 to 12.
| Ride | Time | Roughly what you see | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 30 min, non-stop | The south end: the Pond, Gapstow Bridge, Wollman Rink, the Dairy | $20–$25 |
| Classic | 1 hour | Adds the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge, Cherry Hill, Strawberry Fields | $30–$40 |
| Premium | 1.5 hours | Adds Belvedere Castle, the Lake, Sheep Meadow, Tavern on the Green | $45–$60 |
| Home Alone 2 | 1.5 hours | Film locations: Wollman Rink, the Plaza, Gapstow Bridge, Rockefeller Center | $65–$70 |
| Deluxe | 2 hours | Adds the Reservoir, Conservatory Water, Alice in Wonderland, the Obelisk | $60–$80 |
| VIP Park & City | 2.5 hours | The park plus Fifth Avenue, St. Patrick’s, Rockefeller Center | $100–$125 |
| VIP Premium City | 3 hours | Everything above plus Times Square, SoHo, Wall Street | $250–$300 |
Children under 3 ride free. Three people fit on the bench.
The half-hour ride is a real tour, not a sample — it just does not stop. If you want to get off and photograph anything, start at an hour.
Nine places the route is built around
Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. The architectural heart of the park. The Angel of the Waters on top was sculpted by Emma Stebbins and unveiled in 1873, the first major public art commission in New York City awarded to a woman. Walk into the arcade underneath and look up: the ceiling carries roughly 15,000 encaustic tiles made by Minton in England, taken down in the 1980s and put back in 2007.
Bow Bridge. Cast iron, 1862, designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. One of the oldest cast-iron bridges in the country and the most photographed structure in the park. Best light is late afternoon from the Cherry Hill side.
The Mall and Literary Walk. A quarter-mile straight promenade, one of the few straight lines Olmsted and Vaux allowed themselves, under one of the largest surviving stands of American elms in the world. In autumn the canopy turns the whole corridor gold.
Strawberry Fields. The teardrop of lawn opposite the Dakota, dedicated in 1985. The Imagine mosaic at its center was a gift from the city of Naples.
Belvedere Castle. Vaux and Mould again, 1869, built as a folly with no interior purpose at all. The National Weather Service has taken Central Park’s official readings from it since 1919. When a forecast says “Central Park,” this is where the instrument sits.
Gapstow Bridge. The stone arch over the north end of the Pond, built in 1896 to replace a wooden one that had rotted. The view through it toward the Plaza Hotel is the shot that ends up on postcards.
The Obelisk. Carved in Heliopolis around 1450 BC, moved to Alexandria by the Romans, given to the United States by Egypt and dragged into the park in 1881. By a wide margin the oldest object in New York.
Alice in Wonderland. José de Creeft’s bronze at Conservatory Water, 1959, commissioned by George Delacorte for his wife. The bronze is worn shiny where children have climbed it for sixty-five years.
The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. 106 acres of water with a 1.58-mile track around it and the best unobstructed skyline view in the park.
Rickshaw, horse carriage, or your own two feet
| Rickshaw | Horse carriage | Walking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it goes | Park paths and drives | Park drives only | Anywhere |
| Ground covered in an hour | Most of the park | The south loop | About a mile |
| Stops for photos | Anywhere, unlimited | Limited | Anywhere |
| Group size | Up to 3 | Up to 4 | Any |
| Weather cover | Canopy, blankets | Open or hooded | None |
| Typical hour | $30–$60 per person | Around $160 per carriage | Free |
| Narration | Yes, the whole ride | Varies | No |
The carriages are a New York institution and there is a real case for them if what you want is the ride itself rather than the park. But they are confined to the drives, they cannot take the path down to Bethesda, and they are priced per carriage rather than per person, which makes them expensive for two and reasonable for four.
Walking is free and it is the only way to see the Ramble properly. It is also six miles if you want the whole thing, and most visitors have a dinner reservation.
What the seat is actually like
Cushioned bench, backrest, a fixed canopy overhead. Blankets from October through April; the wind coming off the Reservoir is colder than the forecast suggests. Seat belts are required on every licensed NYC pedicab — one for all passengers, or an individual belt for each seat — so buckle up before the ride starts.
Three adults fit, but two adults and a child are more comfortable. If your group is four or more, we send two pedicabs and they ride together.
Bring a jacket you can take off. The open sides are the point, which is what the photographs are for, but they also mean you feel the weather.
We ride in the rain, and where to find us
Central Park in the rain is quieter, greener and almost empty, and the pedicab has a canopy over your head and blankets under it. Tours run year-round and in most weather. If conditions turn genuinely unsafe — ice on the drives, a wind warning, thunder — we call you and move the booking or refund it. That call comes from us; you do not have to chase it.
If the forecast worries you, book anyway and decide on the morning of the ride.
Getting to the pickup
We start at Grand Army Plaza, at the corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue, in front of the Plaza Hotel.
Subway: 5 Av/59 St on the N, R and W. Or 59 St–Columbus Circle on the A, C, B, D and 1, which puts you at the other end of Central Park South, a seven-minute walk east.
Walking from Times Square takes about fifteen minutes up Seventh Avenue and right on Central Park South.
For private and VIP bookings we can collect you from a hotel in Midtown, around Times Square, or by Rockefeller Center instead. Say so when you book.
Asked at the curb
Is “rickshaw” the same as “pedicab”?
Yes. New York’s licensing code says pedicab; almost everyone standing on Central Park South says rickshaw. Same vehicle, same license, same ride.
How many people fit?
Three adults on the bench, or two adults with a small child. Larger groups ride in two or more pedicabs together, and we keep them in convoy so nobody gets separated.
Is the driver pedaling the whole way?
Mostly. Our pedicabs have an electric assist for the climbs at the north end and for headwind days, which is what lets a two-hour tour actually reach the Reservoir instead of turning back at the Lake.
What does it cost, really?
What the table above says. Per person, agreed before you get in, with no per-passenger surcharge. That surcharge is illegal in New York anyway, and you should walk away from anyone who tries it.
Should I tip?
Not required, and the city’s own rider card says so. Drivers are glad of it and nobody will mention it if you do not.
Can we choose the route?
On any booking, yes. Tell your driver what you care about — the film locations, the quiet paths, the best light for photographs — and the route bends around it.
Do you take photos for us?
Constantly. It is the part of the job the drivers enjoy most, and they know which angle at Bow Bridge puts the skyline behind you.
How far ahead should we book?
Weekends in October and the first half of December fill up several days out. Weekday mornings can usually take a same-day booking. If you do not see your slot online, call — we often have room that has not been released.
Ready to ride
What Riders Say About TruRide NYC
Rated 5.0 out of 5 across verified reviews from Google, Facebook and GetYourGuide. You can also read our reviews on GetYourGuide, Viator and Yelp.
- ★★★★★
“Tim and Dylan provided a great tour of the Park. They were knowledgeable and friendly. I would book again!”
Erin Potts · August 16, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Great experience. Dil was our guide and we got to see Central Park in 1 hour. Dil was very kind and friendly, took our pictures, and I would 100% recommend.”
Daniel Cullen · August 8, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“It was a great experience with Vali, very knowledgeable!”
Divit Vasu · August 12, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Good info and relaxing ride with lots of photo opps.”
Alexa Jocic · August 14, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★☆
“We did enjoy our tour with Vali. He showed us nice places, took good pictures, and told a lot of stuff about New York.”
Romy Luijte · August 10, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Best tour guide!!”
Julia Lewis · August 15, 2026 · Google Review