Strains, then hesitates, to see passenger vehicles from the East (9)
I believe the answer is:
rickshaws
'passenger vehicles from the east' is the definition.
'strains then hesitates' is the wordplay.
'strains' becomes 'ricks'.
'then' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'hesitates' becomes 'haws' (as in humming and hawing).
'ricks'+'haws'='RICKSHAWS'
'to see' is the link.
(Other definitions for rickshaws that I've seen before include "Man-powered transporters" , "Small two-wheeled carts for single passengers" , "Passenger carts pulled by runners or cyclists" , "Eastern two-wheeled carts for passengers" .)