Editing Cycle rickshaw (section)

==Economic, social and political aspects==

===Economics===
[[File:三轮车.JPG|thumb|upright|right|Modern cycle rickshaw in Beijing Street]]
In many Asian cities where they are widely used, cycle rickshaw driving provides essential employment for recent [[immigration|immigrants]] from rural areas, generally impoverished men. One study in [[Bangladesh]] showed that cycle rickshaw driving was connected with some increases in income for poor agricultural labourers who moved to urban areas, but that the extreme physical demands of the job meant that these benefits decreased for long-term drivers.<ref name="begum2005">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.</ref> In [[Jakarta]], most cycle rickshaw drivers in the 1980s were former [[landlessness|landless]] agricultural labourers from rural areas of [[Java (island)|Java]].<ref name="azuma2003">Azuma, Yoshifumi (2003). ''Urban peasants: beca drivers in Jakarta''. Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan.</ref>

In 2003, Dhaka cycle rickshaw drivers earned an estimated average of [[Bangladeshi taka|Tk]] 143 ([[United States dollar|US$]]2.38) per day, of which they paid about Tk 50 (US$0.80) to rent the cycle rickshaw for a day. Older, long-term drivers earned substantially less.<ref name="begum2005"/> A 1988–89 survey found that Jakarta drivers earned a daily average of [[Indonesian rupiah|Rp.]] 2722 (US$1.57).<ref name="azuma2003"/> These wages, while widely considered very low for such physically demanding work, do in some situations compare favourably to jobs available to unskilled workers.<ref name="gallagher1992">Gallagher, Rob (1992). ''The rickshaws of Bangladesh''. Dhaka: The University Press Limited.</ref>

In many cities, most drivers do not own their own cycle rickshaws; instead, they rent them from their owners, some of whom own many cycle rickshaws. Driver-ownership rates vary widely.  In [[Delhi]], a 1980 study found only one per cent of drivers owned their vehicles, but ownership rates in several other Indian cities were much higher, including fifteen per cent in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] and twenty-two per cent in [[Faridabad]]. A 1977 study in [[Chiang Mai]], Thailand found that 44% of cycle rickshaw drivers were owners. In Bangladesh, driver-ownership is usually highest in rural areas and lowest in the larger cities. Most cycle 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.<ref name="gallagher1992"/>

===Social aspects===
In 2012 [[Ole Kassow (social entrepreneur)|Ole Kassow]], a resident of [[Copenhagen (Denmark)|Copenhagen]], wanted to help the elderly get back on their bicycles, but he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a cycle rickshaw, and he started offering free cycle rickshaw rides to residents of a nearby [[Nursing home care|nursing home]]. He then got in touch with a civil society consultant at the City of Copenhagen, Dorthe Pedersen, who was intrigued by the idea, and together they bought five cycle rickshaws and launched an organisation called [[Cycling Without Age]], which has now spread to all corners of Denmark, and since 2015 to another 50 countries around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cyclingwithoutage.org/about/|title=About - Cycling Without Age|website=Cyclingwithoutage.org|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref>

===Legislation===
Some countries and cities have banned or restricted cycle rickshaws. They are often prohibited in [[traffic congestion|congested areas]] of major cities. For example, they were banned in [[Bangkok]] in the mid-1960s as not fitting the modern image of the city being promoted by the government.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} In Dhaka and Jakarta, they are no longer permitted on major roads, but are still used to provide transportation within individual urban neighbourhoods.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} They are banned entirely in [[Pakistan]].<ref name="news.google.com"/> While they have been criticised for causing congestion, cycle rickshaws are also often hailed as environmentally-friendly, inexpensive modes of transportation.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}}

In Taiwan, the Road Traffic Security Rules require pedicabs to be registered by their owners with the police before they can be legally driven on public roads, or risk an administrative fine of 300 [[new Taiwan dollar]]s (TWD). Their drivers must carry the police registration documents or risk a fine of 180 TWD, but no driver licence is required. The administrative fines are based on Articles 69 and 71 of the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations. As Taiwanese road traffic is now heavily motorised, most pedicabs have been replaced by [[taxicab]]s, but they can still be found at limited places, such as Cijin District of [[Kaohsiung City]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}}

Electric-assist pedicabs were banned in New York City in January 2008, the city council decided to allow pedicabs propelled only by muscle power.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} The city of [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]], Canada, has decided not to issue permits to electric-assist pedicabs.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}