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Bicycle messengers (also known as bike or cycle couriers) are people who work carrying and delivering items by bicycle. Bicycle messengers are most often found in the central business districts of metropolitan areas. Businesses and individuals use bike messengers to send items quickly within a city, where bikes can often travel faster than automobiles by maneuvering through city traffic.

Modern technologya??such as encrypted email, and electronic documentation (ex. e-ticketing)a??has somewhat reduced the demand for the services of bicycle messengers. Notably, there were expectations in the 1980s that the fax machine would spell the end of the bicycle messenger business, but the industry remained strong. Some portion of the continued demand is a result of need to send items which can not be sent by digital means (such as corporate gifts and original artwork), but a much larger part is made up of legal documents, cheques and sensitive information. This demand can be seen as a result of continued distrust of digital cryptography. Also common is for bicycle messengers to deliver digital content across the city on optical media or hard disks as the speed at which data can be transferred by that method often greatly exceeds feasible Internet transfer rates. Furthermore, in some instances bicycle messengers are used purely for the air of importance the delivery method lends to a package.

The laws regarding the employment of bicycle messengers varies from country to country. In some places messengers are independent contractors paid on commission and do not receive benefits such as health insurance, despite a high risk for on-the-job injury. In other places they will be regular employees of the courier company enjoying all the benefits thereof. Still, it is very common for the job to carry a low degree of compensation relative to the risk and effort required. Yet, there is rarely a shortage of willing couriers, due largely to the freedom offered by the job and to its continual romanticization.

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amNewYork reporter Justin Rocket Silverman follows a New York City bike messenger as he weaves ... amNewYork reporter Justin Rocket Silverman follows a New York City bike messenger as he weaves ...

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