Rickshaw

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The most basic form of taxi cab has to be the rickshaw, a popular form of transportation, particularly in Asian cities, from the late 19th century through to the present day.

Generally pulled by one man with one passenger, they provided a reliable source of employment for male labourers while they still had the strength and stamina demanded by the job. Over the passage of time, pulled rickshaws gradually evolved into cycle rickshaws, also called pedicabs, usually pedal-driven by a driver, though some are equipped with an electric motor to assist muscle power. The vehicle is usually a tricycle, though some quadracycle models exist, and some bicycles with trailers are configured as cycle rickshaws.

The cycle rickshaw was first developed in the 1880s concurrently with the evolution of the bicycle and was first used with regularity in Singapore in the late-1920s. By the mid-1930s such was the popularity of these machines that they outnumbered pulled rickshaws. Cycle rickshaws were found in every south and east Asian country by 1950. The popularity of the rickshaw gradually declined as cars, trains and other forms of transport became more affordable and more widely available, however in poorer communities and congested inner cities in Asia they remained as popular as ever. By the late 1980s there were estimated 4 million cycle rickshaws in the world.

In more recent times, with a greater awareness of the environmental impact of the internal combustion engine, there has been a significant resurgence of the rickshaw in its various guises. Furthermore, with an increase in tourism around the world, the rickshaw has proved itself to be the ideal means of transportation around a city for the more curious and intrepid tourist.

Thought to date from around 1980, this cycle rickshaw has been on dispaly at Stondon for some years and appears from its decoration to have come from the Indian subcontinent. A most eye-catching machine with its gaily painted flanks and foot board and bright fabric top with a rich orange lining, it is no doubt capable of earning a decent living for its next owner should they feel fit enough to put it to the purpose for which it is designed.