their services out of convenience and for short-distance trips to the local marketplace. Rickshaws are used to transport goods, shoppers, and school children. They are also used as a "24-hour ambulance service." Also, according to Hyrapiet and Greiner, rickshaw pullers have acted as peer-educators for the Calcutta Samaritans, providing critical information on HIV/AIDS because of their access to marginalized groups within Kolkata's red light districts.

Rickshaws are the most effective means of transportation through the flooded streets