BICYCLE TRAILERS
Introduction
In many developing countries people live in regions away from the main transport
infrastructure. This means transport services are expensive Many villages in the South are not
part of road networks and the lack of transport is a constraint on income generating activities
such as taking produce to markets
and acquiring equipment and
materials needed for a small
enterprise
The approach of Practical Action
is to promote a view of transport
systems that addresses problems
of access and mobility for rural
people
Strengthen capacity of
communities to control & manage
transport facilities
Practical Action has worked on a
range of transport technologies
that address different transport
needs, such as Ox carts, extended
Figure 1: Piyasena uses his cycle trailer as a mobile
mini store and kitchen. Hambamtota District, Sri Lanka.
©Zul/Practical Action
load carrying bicycles, aerial
runways, bicycle taxis, bicycle ambulances, wheelbarrows, low cost wheelmaking, animal
harnesses, low cost road construction and bicycle trailers. Cycle trailers are used for
transporting goods, fuel, water and harvests where other means are too expensive
Trailers allow people can now carry three times as much as with a bicycle, which allows
people to carry around 200 kilograms (450 lbs.)
The range of use is quite wide including
ambulances, mobile shops, and even a
mobile library in one instance in Sri Lanka,
shown in figure 2.
Bicycle trailers
Figure 2: A cycle trailer used as a mobile
library for school children in Sri Lanka
©Zul/Practical Action
Bicycle trailers were developed within
Practical Action South Asia (Sri Lanka)
then adopted by Practical Action East
Africa (Kenya) and now in Nepal and
Zimbabwe.
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