Trixi.com
08-03-2005, 22:22
Published in September 2004, but still interesting:
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/pic2/printer_friendly.gif (http://home.kyodo.co.jp)
TokyoNow: Modern version of pedicab running in Kyoto
KYOTO, Sept. 3, Kyodo - The Velotaxi, a modern version of the pedicab and manufactured by a German company, is attracting customers in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, especially among older people who remember the original pedicabs. ''You can enjoy the scenery at your leisure, with a sense of liveliness,'' said Aoba Fukada, 25, a Velotaxi driver.
The streamlined, three-wheeled bicycle about 3 meters long and 1.75 meters high was born in Germany in 1997.
With an electric motor, it can easily climb up a sloping road with two passengers in the back seat.
The Velotaxi is active in some 15 European countries and was introduced to Kyoto in 2002.
Since then, 60 taxis have been operated in six other cities, including Tokyo, Osaka and Naha. They might also be used at the World Expo to be held in Aichi Prefecture next spring.
Noriyuki Morita, 29, a representative of the Ecological Cities Promoting Association, the Japan agent for the producer, Velotaxi GmbH, tells of an incident when an engineer from Germany visited Kyoto to check and repair the Velotaxis one year after their introduction.
''Is there no problem in Japan about the transportation of people by people?'' the engineer asked Morita, referring to the presence of rickshaws in Kyoto.
In Europe, where transportation was traditionally done by animals or machines, there is a feeling that humans should not be used to carry people.
Already, more than 20,000 people have taken Velotaxi rides in Kyoto.
''With no gas emissions, it is environmentally friendly. In an era like this, people recognize the significance of slow driving,'' Morita said.
In the early Meiji period, in the 19th century, the use of rickshaws in Japan to replace palanquins spread to every corner of the country and they numbered about 200,000 in 1897.
With the development of the railroad network, rickshaws lost their popularity but were exported to China and other Asian countries to become a popular means of transportation there.
Despite the European reservations, all is not black for rickshaws.
The ''City of Joy,'' directed by Roland Jofee, is the story of a rickshaw man who works hard for his family in a slum area in Calcutta.
John Whitelegg, a professor of York University in Britain, estimating the impact of rickshaws on the environment, says that if 20,000 to 70,000 rickshaws in Calcutta were all replaced with motor vehicles, carbon monoxide would increase by 60,000 tons annually.
''Cycle rickshaws,'' or pedicabs, are used in many parts of India. Similar vehicles are found in Vietnam and Indonesia.
In Europe, more than 10 companies have been established in Germany and Britain since the 1990s to manufacture or operate motor-assisted pedicabs.
Guido Struss, whose company, Velotaxi, has produced 280 ''Velocabs'' in Straubenhardt, southern Germany for export to other European countries, said his company has been making them since 1993, with a design based on the Indian pedicabs.
In London, there are about 60 Velocabs, which are mostly used by people going to theaters or movies, or even by those on pub crawls.
Struss said the old generation was hesitant to use the cabs, saying people should not carry people, but thanks to the supplementary electric motors, the view that pedicabs require hard labor has gone.
He said his company will next produce Velocabs for vacation use and export them to the small Caribbean island nation of Barbados
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/pic2/printer_friendly.gif (http://home.kyodo.co.jp)
TokyoNow: Modern version of pedicab running in Kyoto
KYOTO, Sept. 3, Kyodo - The Velotaxi, a modern version of the pedicab and manufactured by a German company, is attracting customers in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, especially among older people who remember the original pedicabs. ''You can enjoy the scenery at your leisure, with a sense of liveliness,'' said Aoba Fukada, 25, a Velotaxi driver.
The streamlined, three-wheeled bicycle about 3 meters long and 1.75 meters high was born in Germany in 1997.
With an electric motor, it can easily climb up a sloping road with two passengers in the back seat.
The Velotaxi is active in some 15 European countries and was introduced to Kyoto in 2002.
Since then, 60 taxis have been operated in six other cities, including Tokyo, Osaka and Naha. They might also be used at the World Expo to be held in Aichi Prefecture next spring.
Noriyuki Morita, 29, a representative of the Ecological Cities Promoting Association, the Japan agent for the producer, Velotaxi GmbH, tells of an incident when an engineer from Germany visited Kyoto to check and repair the Velotaxis one year after their introduction.
''Is there no problem in Japan about the transportation of people by people?'' the engineer asked Morita, referring to the presence of rickshaws in Kyoto.
In Europe, where transportation was traditionally done by animals or machines, there is a feeling that humans should not be used to carry people.
Already, more than 20,000 people have taken Velotaxi rides in Kyoto.
''With no gas emissions, it is environmentally friendly. In an era like this, people recognize the significance of slow driving,'' Morita said.
In the early Meiji period, in the 19th century, the use of rickshaws in Japan to replace palanquins spread to every corner of the country and they numbered about 200,000 in 1897.
With the development of the railroad network, rickshaws lost their popularity but were exported to China and other Asian countries to become a popular means of transportation there.
Despite the European reservations, all is not black for rickshaws.
The ''City of Joy,'' directed by Roland Jofee, is the story of a rickshaw man who works hard for his family in a slum area in Calcutta.
John Whitelegg, a professor of York University in Britain, estimating the impact of rickshaws on the environment, says that if 20,000 to 70,000 rickshaws in Calcutta were all replaced with motor vehicles, carbon monoxide would increase by 60,000 tons annually.
''Cycle rickshaws,'' or pedicabs, are used in many parts of India. Similar vehicles are found in Vietnam and Indonesia.
In Europe, more than 10 companies have been established in Germany and Britain since the 1990s to manufacture or operate motor-assisted pedicabs.
Guido Struss, whose company, Velotaxi, has produced 280 ''Velocabs'' in Straubenhardt, southern Germany for export to other European countries, said his company has been making them since 1993, with a design based on the Indian pedicabs.
In London, there are about 60 Velocabs, which are mostly used by people going to theaters or movies, or even by those on pub crawls.
Struss said the old generation was hesitant to use the cabs, saying people should not carry people, but thanks to the supplementary electric motors, the view that pedicabs require hard labor has gone.
He said his company will next produce Velocabs for vacation use and export them to the small Caribbean island nation of Barbados