PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) –  Cyclos, the pedicab forerunners of tuk-tuks, are threatened  with extinction in the capital, a transportation expert predicts.      

“I am afraid that the cyclos will disappear [from the streets of Phnom Penh] in the future,” said Im Sambath, the executive director of the Cyclo Conservation and Career Association, an industry group.     

Cyclos, three-wheeled bicycles whose drivers perch high above the rear wheel, were once popular in Phnom Penh and an icon of the city since the late 19th century. But tuk-tuks, the motorized version, offer shorter traveling times for passengers, less work for drivers, and larger passenger carrying capacities. 

In recent years, 40 percent of pedicab operators abandoned their vehicles in search of other work.  
    
“Our organization has more than 300 members, but they are only numbers on paper,” said Mr. Sambath. “There are not many drivers who show their faces at my association meetings.”

Most cyclo drivers are old and come from poor families and the countryside. Few of their sons step into their shoes – or better said, pedals. 

One major source of demand are foreign tourists who like the romance of a Sunday morning tour of the capital’s uncongested streets.

“I call for the conservation of the cyclo because it is very interesting for tourists,” said Mr. Sambath.      
 
According to a survey conducted by Mr. Sambath’s organization, the number of cyclos in all of Cambodia dropped from 517 to 450 in the past two years.

Cyclo driver Om Pov, 64, said that few Cambodian use cyclos because they prefer motorbikes, tuk-tuks, and buses.

“I had many customers in the past, but during the past three years, I can only earn enough money to live hand to mouth,” he said. “I could get $10 a day in 2004, but nowadays I can make only $3 to $4 a day.”

Currently, cyclos are available in Phnom Penh only around a few markets like Phsar Kandal, Phsar Chars, and Central Market.