Sean Levine totes tourists around D.C. as co-owner of Monumental Pedicabs. While riding his bike home from his job at a local marina, a conversation with a pedicab driver inspired Levine to take to the streets himself. He has been pedaling one since 2007. What’s your favorite part of driving a pedicab?
I’ve met people from every continent, almost every country. Every visitor who comes to this nation’s capital, I have a chance of meeting. I get to ask a lot of questions, they ask me a lot of questions. I wear a lot of hats as a pedicab driver. I’m a concierge. I’m a restaurant critic. I’m a tour guide. I sometimes feel like I can be anybody’s close family friend who lives in Washington, D.C.
Have you ever had a bad tour?
The hardest journey I ever did was from Air and Space Museum to the zoo, which is mostly all uphill. Even though it was just a mother and her 4-year-old boy, it was pretty grueling. Since then, I tell people to just take the Red Line. Think of driving a pedicab up a cliff. It’s not fun.
Do D.C. locals ever take a ride?
Usually you get the most locals when the bars close on Friday and Saturday nights. You have something different to offer than a taxi. We’re open air and it’s fun. We all have a good time and it’s a little change of pace. The locals view us mainly as a transportation for tourists, so it takes a little bit of convincing to get residents to get on.
What route do you recommend?
A nighttime monument tour when it’s all dark and it’s lit up. I go up around the Washington Monument, to the Lincoln monument and down to the Jefferson monument. That route is the most popular tour that we do. Jefferson and Lincoln, they’re just such majestic sites. – Amy Myers
