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Pedicabs Cash In On Inauguration Traffic

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And we're sticking with the Inauguration for our last word in business. That word is transportainment. It comes from a pedicab driver who talked to WTOP radio here in Washington, D.C.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Pedicabs, if you've never seen them, are those rickshaw-type vehicles. They're kind of, you know, half-bicycle, half-taxi. You kick back, while somebody pedals you around. With huge crowds expected, dozens of pedicab drivers have come to Washington to take advantage of the president's swearing-in.

MONTAGNE: Mike Kowalczyk is from Newport, Rhode Island, and he told the radio station he's a little worried about directions. He said he got lost his first night in the nation's capital. I think I got behind him, actually.

(LAUGHTER)

MONTAGNE: You have to swerve around these guys now. He spent a half-hour trying to find U Street, and never found it.

INSKEEP: There's an alphabet. The streets are alphabetical in Washington. Go above T. But Kowalczyk says getting lost and meeting new people is what makes the experience special, an adventure. That's transportainment.

MONTAGNE: And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

INSKEEP: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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