Building a Bicycle Carriage and Transporting People to and from the Local Spanza Shop with Uber-like Service

Increasingly, individuals are discovering the positive aspects of human-powered modes of transportation – and their willingness to pay a price for it. With increasing gas prices and communities becoming environmentally conscious, human-powered modes of transportation are regaining popularity. Bicycle Carriages, pedicabs and cycle rickshaws are inexpensive to purchase, promote sustainability, and provide a great riding experience! If one is looking for a simple local business, environmentally friendly, and economically viable transportation, one could construct a bicycle carriage and offer a mini Uber service for a couple of short rides around town, particularly to/from the Spanza shop.

This guide aims to describe the entire process from the design and construction of the bicycle carriage, to the start of the small-scale transport business.

Step 1: Understanding What a Bicycle Carriage Is

A bicycle carriage is, for all intents and purposes, a bicycle with a seat for a passenger attched to it and a few modifications. It can hold 1-3 customers over short distances. Every model, from the simple welded to the more complex electric-assist models, has the same fundamental design: human-powered, environmentally friendly transport.

Your aim is to design a dependable, sturdy, and cozy carriage for short journeys from neighboring neighborhoods to the Spanza store. While you may only have to travel over a couple of kilometers, comfort and safety are most important.

Step Two – Obtaining the materials and tools you will need

Prior to getting started, it’s time to penalize the materials you will need:

Before getting started, it’s time to penalize the items you will need:

Main Materials

A robust mountain bike or touring bicycle (with a steel or aluminum frame)

Square steel tubing (1–1.5 inch) – for the carriage frame

Plywood or lightweight aluminum – for the passenger floor

Two small 20–24 inch wheels – for the rear of the carriage

Bolts, brackets, and clamps

Welding equipment (or a local fabricator)

Cushions and weatherproof fabric – for the seats

Paint, reflectors, and LED lights – for visibility

Optional: E-bike motor kit and battery

Tools

Metal saw or grinder

Drill and drill bits

Wrench set

Measuring tape and marker

Welding equipment (if self-welded)

Safety Tip: if you don’t feel comfortable doing metalwork, a local mechanic or welder could be an option to consider, they would make your frame according to the sketch you provide them.

Step 3: Building a Frame for the Carriage

Before you start building, sketch your design. The basic layout will be:

Driver in front (on the bicycle seat)

Passenger cabin at the back (dependent on the rear wheel area)

Support structure connecting the bike to the carriage axle

To assure right balance and stability, the carriage can have two rear wheels spaced approximately 80-100 cm apart. The frame connecting the bike and the carriage should form a solid triangular structure to distribute weight.

There are definitely open-source pedicab frame designs available online for inspiration, but change the dimensions to what you find comfortable and what road conditions you typically find in your area. Rougher local roads may require extra suspension (old mountain bike shocks will definitely suffice).

Step 5: Paint and Finishing Touches

After the mechanical parts are operational, paint your carriage with bright, fun colors. Adding reflective tape, and install tail lights and side lights for nighttime visibility. Your vehicle’s professional appearance will increase your service’s reliability. Consider imprinting your ride with a catchy title such as “Spanza Shuttle” or “EcoRide Express.”

More comfortable rides attract more customers. Think about:

Shock absorbers underneath the seat platform
Seat belts or safety bars
Music or a mini Bluetooth speaker for ambience
Hand sanitizer and a small cooling fan for passenger experience

Your safety and the safety of a passenger is non-negotiable. It is imperative that you wear a helmet (all helmets should be CPSC, SNELL or ANSI approved), and wear a reflective vest, and make sure your brakes and lights work at all times.

Step 7: Becoming an “Uber” in Addition to the Spanza Shop

Now that your cab is ready to go, you can make it your first micro-business. You may not be able to put it in the Uber app, but you can offer on-demand rides Uber-style in your neighborhood.

Here is how you could do this:

Create a simple booking system.
You might simply ask riders to send messages through WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook Messenger to request a ride. You may even want to create a simple Google Form or QR code for riders to scan to book their rides.

Set your rates.
You will want to set rates like these:

Short ride (less than 2 kilometers): R 2,50
Medium ride (2 kilometers – 4 kilometers): R 5
Round trip to Spanza shop: R 10
Set shuttle times.
Some passengers will want set travel times — particularly your shoppers leaving and returning from the Spanza shop. Set a mini-time schedule, (for example, every 30 minutes).

Use a digital payment option.
Many local customers will want to pay with mobile money or with QR. A small sign may help, too.

Create customer loyalty.
Provide a discount on return trips or offer a card that allows for a ride 5, get 1 free. Being pleasant and consistent to your passengers is your greatest marketing tool!

Step 8: Promoting Your Bicycle Carriage Operation

One of the secrets to the success of your business depends on visibility and trust within your community. Try some of these ideas to market your service locally:

Set up your bicycle carriage/delivery bike near the Spanza shop with a colorful banner.

Consider giving new passengers their first ride for free.

Consider teaming up with the shop. Offering customers discounted bike rides when they purchase from the shop.

Consider leveraging social media by posting pictures or brief videos of your bicycle carriage on Facebook or your other social media platforms.

Ask pleased riders/wallets to write you a positive comment online.

It is important to present your bicycle carriage not only as an option for transportation but as an experience — a peaceful, green, cheap, and personalized transportation experience.

Step 9: Adding to Your Mini Fleet

As your service becomes more popular, you can expand your mini fleet:

Train local kids to drive additional carriages.

Provide delivery services from the Spanza shop.

Benefits and Challenges of Operating a Vehicle-Based Bicycle Carriage

Running a bicycle carriage is more than a green novelt. It’s a fresh business model that mixes sustainability and community connection with local business designs. But like any venture, operating a bicycle carriage will have benefits and challenges, each with rewarding benefits and pragmatic problems to deal with. Understanding the benefits and challenges at the start will support your planning to be more efficient and evolve sustainably.

Benefits:
1. Low Start Up and Operating Cost

Building and maintaining a bicycle carriage is significantly lower than motor vehicle-related costs. You can in most cases skip worrying about fuel, licensing costs, and costly insurance. Once your carriage is built, your operational costs mainly include basic maintenance and small repairs. This is one of the simplest and most accessible business models for young or inexperienced entrepreneurs.

2. Environmentally Friendly and Sustainability

Your bicycle rickshaw emits no pollution, operates silently, and helps make the air cleaner in your community and at a time when urban pollution and climate change are prominent issues, providing a green mode of transport for residents and visitors can connect residents with environmentally minded customers and possibly local governments.

3. Connects you with your Community

A bicycle rickshaw service doesn’t just provide transportation, it creates personal connections. Riders routinely talk with the driver, share experiences, and build community relationships. All this helps reinforce community bonds and creates a trusted local service; you can even connect people to a local neighborhood hub, such as the Spanza shop.

4. Work when you want

You determine when you want to work. You can work during the peak morning, lunch and evening times and then whatever time you want for the rest of the day for other personal work. You can also adapt your working time to fit in with seasonal, local, or visitor demand. Controlling your effort relative to your personal time is an advantage that doesn’t exist in the traditional workplace.

Challenges:

1. Weather Dependent

Inclement weather, whether it’s rain, wind, or extreme sun, will decrease the operating hours to serve the public and impact demand for service. A basic canopy will help keep you and the passengers dry, although, wet and windy weather will still limit the distance traveled and/or your income potential. Having a backup plan (receiving deliveries during worse weather) will assist in making up on times lost during inclement weather.

2. Limited Passenger Capacity

Most bicycle carriages probably only have the capacity to carry one or two passengers during each trip. Even though trip fares may not be exorbitant, there is a limit to the amount you can make during each trip. You will have to depend on how often you can ‘flip’ “the load” (i.e. the passenger) rather than making large fares continuously to remain profitable. As well, managing your time for the most efficient route of transportation is key to succeeding while having loyal partners!

3. Safety and Traffic Concerns

It may be dangerous to share the streets with motor vehicle traffic, and heavy traffic situations, or poorly designed streets may elevate those dangers considerably. Visibility and defensive driving will be key! For all of your bicycles, you will want to ensure reflective paint, tail lights, and a rearview mirror for safety.

In Closing…

Although it may appear somewhat strange to implement a bicycle cart while establishing a ride-for-hire service, this form of creativeness is what local economies require these days! With some materials that are not complicated (with some metal welding), and a little ingenuity and entrepreneurship, you can metamorphose a bicycle into a ride-for-hire micro-taxi!

Not only are you running a ride-for-hire business by transporting people to and from the local Spanza shop, but you are also building social capital, bridging people with ways to help others in their community and acting sustainably. And you are showing that we can be ‘thinking green’ at a very low tech level. It doesn’t take a lot of technology; sometimes it just takes two wheels, a little elbow grease, and a bright idea.