Cycle rickshaw

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A cycle rickshaw, also known as a pedicab, velotaxi, or trishaw (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: }}}; pinyin: , from tricycle rickshaw) is a human-powered vehicle for hire, usually with one or two seats for carrying passengers in addition to the driver. Cycle rickshaws are widely used for transportation in many parts of Asia, where they have largely replaced less-efficient hand-pulled rickshaws that required the driver to walk or run while pulling the vehicle.

The vehicle is powered by the driver as one would a bicycle, though some rare configurations also have an electric motor assisting the driver. The vehicle is usually a tricycle, though some quadricycles exist, and some bicycles with trailers are configured as rickshaws. The configuration of the driver's and passenger's seat varies, though in general only one configuration is common in any given region. For example, in South Asia, the passenger seat is mounted behind the driver's, while in Indonesia the driver sits behind the passenger seat. In the Philippines, the seats are usually mounted side-by-side.

Cycle rickshaws are known as cyclo (pronounced see-clo) in Cambodia and Vietnam, cycle rickshaw in India and Bangladesh, samlor (literally "three wheels") in Thailand, trishaw in Malaysia and Singapore, and becak in Indonesia. In the Philippines, they are called tricycle/traysikel, traysikad, pedicab, or padyak. Cycle rickshaws are known as saika in Myanmar, a transliteration of English "side car".

Cycle rickshaws are also used in some European and North American cities, such as Soho and Covent Garden in London, where they are most often found near tourist attractions. The city of San Diego in the United States houses hundreds of pedicabs. There are several American and European manufacturers of cycle rickshaws, which often incorporate features not found in developing-world vehicles, such as hydraulic disc brakes and lightweight fibreglass bodies.

In Taiwan, pedicabs must be registered by their owners with the police before they can be legally driven on public roads. Their drivers must carry the police registration documents or risk a fine, but no driver license is required. As Taiwanese road traffic is now heavily motorzed, most pedicabs have been replaced by taxicabs, but they can still be found at limited places, such as Cijin District of Kaohsiung City.

Economic and political aspects

In many Asian cities where they are widely used, rickshaw driving provides essential employment for recent immigrants from rural areas, generally impoverished men. One study in Bangladesh showed that rickshaw driving was connected with some increases in income for poor agricultural laborers who moved to urban areas, but that the extreme physical demands of the job meant that these benefits decreased for long-term drivers. Begum, Sharifa and Binayak Sen (2005). Pulling rickshaws in the city of Dhaka: a way out of poverty? Environment and Urbanization 17(2):11-25. In Jakarta, most rickshaw drivers in the 1980s were former landless agricultural laborers from rural areas of Java.Azuma, Yoshifumi (2003). Urban peasants: beca drivers in Jakarta. Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan.

In 2003, Dhaka rickshaw drivers earned an estimated average of Tk 143 (US$2.38) per day, of which they paid about Tk 50 (US$0.80) to rent the rickshaw for a day. Older, long-term drivers earned substantially less. A 1988-89 survey found that Jakarta drivers earned an average of Rp. 2722 (US$ 1.57). These wages, while widely considered very low for such physically demanding work, do in some situations compare favorably to other jobs available to unskilled workers.Gallagher, Rob (1992). The rickshaws of Bangladesh. Dhaka: The University Press Limited.

In many cities, most drivers do not own their own rickshaws; instead, they rent them from their owners, some of whom own many rickshaws. Driver-ownership rates vary widely. In Delhi, a 1980 study found only one percent of drivers owned their vehicles, but rates in several other Indian cities were much higher, including fifteen percent in Hyderabad and twenty-two percent in Faridabad. A 1977 study in Chiang Mai, Thailand found that 44% of rickshaw drivers were owners. In Bangladesh, driver-ownership is usually highest in rural areas and lowest in the larger cities. Most rickshaws in that country are owned by individuals who have only one or two of them, but some owners in the largest cities own several hundred.

Some countries and cities have banned or restricted cycle rickshaws. They are often prohibited in congested areas of major cities. For example, they were banned in Bangkok in the mid 1960s as not fitting the city's modern image. In Dhaka and Jakarta, they are no longer permitted on major roads, but are still used to provide transportation within individual urban neighborhoods. They are banned entirely in Pakistan. While they have been criticized for causing congestion, rickshaws are also often hailed as environmentally-friendly, inexpensive modes of transportation.

The San Diego controversy

There is some controversy among San Diego pedicab operators, mainly due to a kind of outsourcing that has been taking place in the American city for quite some time now. Many companies activelly recruit young Turkish, Slovak, and Rusian operators, encouraging them to come to America during the Summer to operate pedicabs. This has more than tripled the ammount of operators in the city of San Diego. American pedicab ooperators feel like they are losing an otherwise very profitable tourism business to their inexperienced counterpats. American operators believe that foregin riders are nuisance, because, American operators claim, of their disregard for the law, inflated pricing, and lack of English skills and familiarity with San Diego. San Diegan riders also contend that too many pedicabs are bad for business, because they bring down the demand for the service and make it look bad. Finally, American riders argue that foregin riders are not employed by the company they rent bikes from, but that they are independent contractors, which, according to the American riders, is illegal under a work visa. On the opposite side of the argument, non American riders claim to make good money by working hard. They feel like American riders ought to work harder if they want to compete against them. Pedicab rental companies benefit either way, since they get paid no matter who rides the bike. Some independent pedicab owners have found ways around the issue by adding value to their rides by providing pictures, private tours, and by working in areas with low or no pedicab population. These are the riders that will stay competitive in an incresingly global market. It is important to add that, for some pedicab riders in San Diego, "pedicabing" is a hobby, not a livelyhood, while others depend on it as their only source of income.

Film

• The 1989 martial arts film Pedicab Driver, directed by and starring Sammo Hung, dealt with a pair of pedicab drivers and their problems with romance and organized crime.
• The 1995 movie Cyclo, by Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, is centered on a cycle rickshaw driver.
• The 1990s Tollywood movie Orey Rickshaw (Orey literally means "Hey", though in a derogatory tone) tells a story sympathising with the downtrodden.
• Rickshavodu ("Rickshaw Guy") is another Tollywood movie starring Chiranjeevi in the lead roles.
• The 2004 Bollywood movie Main Hoon Na, starring Shahrukh Khan, features a scene with the hero riding a cycle rickshaw downhill after an SUV full of terrorists.

See also

• Freight bicycle
• Rickshaw
• Auto rickshaw
• Bodaboda
• Utility cycling

References

External links

Fleets

• [Kabuki Kabs, Victoria, British Columbia.] Includes pictures of North American-style pedicab with hydraulic brakes, shifters, stereo.
• http://www.turkishpedicab.com/pedicab.htm (In Turkish)
• http://www.popspedicabs.com/

Manufacturers

• [Rickshawforum.com: Manufacturer directory & forum]
• [Trishaw Parade held in Penang (Photo Gallery)(Satire)]
• [Electric cycle rickshaw]

San Diego links

 

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