Cycle rickshaw

The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport; it is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, beca, becak, trisikad, or trishaw.

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.

They are a type of tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for hire basis. Cycle rickshaws are widely used in major cities around the world, but most commonly in cities of South, Southeast and East Asia.

The cycle rickshaw was built in the 1880s and was first used with regularity starting in 1929 in Singapore. Six years later they outnumbered pulled rickshaws. Cycle rickshaws were found in every south and east Asian country by 1950. By the late 1980s there were 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 vary. 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 India and China, the passenger seat is located behind the driver, while in Indonesia, Malaysia 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 Singapore the trishaw and in Burma the sai kaa the passengers sit alongside the driver.

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Wikipedia