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Concept
Cycle rickshaw
Summary
The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, beca, becak, trisikad, sikad, tricycle taxi, trishaw, or hatchback bike.
As opposed to rickshaws pulled by a person on foot, cycle rickshaws are human-powered by pedaling. Another type of rickshaw is the auto rickshaw.
The first cycle rickshaws were built in the 1880s, and they were first used widely in 1929 in Singapore. Six years later they outnumbered pulled rickshaws. By 1950 cycle rickshaws were found in every south and east Asian country. By the late 1980s there were an estimated 4 million cycle rickshaws in the world.
The vehicle is generally pedal-driven by a driver, though some are equipped with an electric motor to assist the driver.
The vehicle is usually a tricycle, though some quadracycle models exist, and some bicycles with trailers are configured as cycle rickshaws. Some cycle rickshaws have gas or electric motors.
The configuration of driver and passenger seats varies. Generally the driver sits in front of the passengers to pedal the rickshaw. There are some designs, though, where the cyclist driver sits behind the passengers. In many Asian countries, like Bangladesh, India and China, the passenger seat is located behind the driver, while in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam the driver sits behind the passenger seat. In the Philippines, the passenger seats are usually located beside the driver in a side car. Similarly, in the trishaw in Singapore and the sai kaa in Burma the passengers sit alongside the driver.
Official source
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