Rickshaws, including passenger rickshaws and rickshaw vans, and work trikes and bikes generally have been deployed in more holistically grounded societies such as those found in the Indian subcontinent as well as eastern Asia for many decades. Ironically, as we in the west discover the utility as well as holistic and health benefits of rickshaws, our friends in Asia are being forced by the World Bank et al to margins more than ever.
What's stopping city-based businesses and individuals participating on this list serve from crafting and maintaining rickshaw practices to maximize carbon neutral local logistics, I wonder? Revolution Rickshaws executes rickshaw services in NYC for numerous clients, both corporate and individual. I wonder why more folks don't avail themselves of such useful, holistic, and healthful local organic logistics solutions.
Gregg Zukowski
Managing Director
Revolution Rickshaws LLC
United States
revrickshaws.com
Local Organic Transport Now
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An additional benefit, I believe, is the physical labor, Jay! We keep hearing from government officials, doctors, and others about an "obesity" crisis in this obese republic - well, when folks climb into the saddle on a regular basis, guess what happens. Another United Statesian off the obesity rolls.
City Harvest in NYC, cityharvest.org, has established, with our help, a robust rickshaw van food rescue program within their massive overall program, which rescues over 25 million pounds of food a year. Here's a passage from their annual report of 2009:
"To further enhance efficiency, we put some of our small donors on bike [sic] routes. Food businesses in Manhattan averaging donations of less than 100 pounds began to get regular visits from City Harvest cargo bikes starting in August. As a result, we were able to take a truck off the road in Manhattan, routing it to the outer boroughs for larger pick-ups instead. By transferring these donors to bike routes, City Harvest was able to consolidate our truck routes and still rescue every available pound of food."
The trikers at City Harvest are Teamsters, which might be of note!
Best,
Gregg
Gregg Zukowski
Revolution Rickshaws, L.L.C.
United States
I'm surprised and happy to find this out. I didn't know this existed in NYC as a modal choice for commuters and cargo, for the most part. Having grown up in India, I have seen these tricycles and rickshaws work, almost flawlessly and efficiently.
When humans 'drive/ride' this as a cargo or as a passenger vehicle, it is a physically challenging adventure, which is one of the drawbacks this system has and can perhaps have some sort of extensive labor challenges attached.
One suggestion that I would think of, which is at least "less bad" if not considered "good" by the zero-carbon proponents is to have these small vehicles powered with batteries or locally grown bio fuels. Such systems of local transport help boost the local economy and keep the money flowing.
Thanks for sharing this, Gregg.
Jay Thakkar
Green Commute Coordinator
Greater Mercer TMA
United States