My most favorite Bicycle I have ever owned, maybe even more than motorcycles.

[MRC01]

Wow, in a lifetime of avid cycling I've seen some strange cycle contraptions show up at events and rides, but never heard of or seen that.
Regarding buddy biking, my wife and I have put thousands of miles on a standard old Santana road tandem. They are super fast and twice as fun as any single bike. Highly recommended! On long rides like the Davis Double Century (miles, not kilometers), tandems always come in first usually come first, or with the fastest earliest riders.

 

[R1jake]

That looks like one peddle would have a way longer stroke than the other pedal? Trying to understand how that pedal system could feel normal? After looking closer I see how it would work now. But really? It still feels the same?

 

[Kurtatron]

I have no doubt a standard tandem would be loads of fun, and probably better if speed, exercise, and performance are the priorities. I suppose my girlfriend and I are not that disciplined. We enjoy the quaint appeal and charm of the buddy bike, rather than the thrill of performance.
The pedaling really does feel nearly the same as a traditional bike. I have had another passenger, and they pedaled right away is if the bike were like any they have ridden.

We are planning to ride this bike in Florida soon. that’s another awesome thing about it. It fits on a normal bike rack, since the wheelbase is the same. It is a lot
More convenient to transport than a tandem.

 

[Surestick]

I have no doubt a standard tandem would be loads of fun, and probably better if speed, exercise, and performance are the priorities. I suppose my girlfriend and I are not that disciplined. We enjoy the quaint appeal and charm of the buddy bike, rather than the thrill of performance.
The pedaling really does feel nearly the same as a traditional bike. I have had another passenger, and they pedaled right away is if the bike were like any they have ridden.

We are planning to ride this bike in Florida soon. that’s another awesome thing about it. It fits on a normal bike rack, since the wheelbase is the same. It is a lot
More convenient to transport than a tandem.

The smell and the view are probably better for the stocker on this kind of tandem compared to a normal one!

 

[Kernel Potter]

In my years of cycling I never came across the existence of side by side tandems. Recently I was watching a documentary on Frederick Law Olmsted. Although it didn't have any subject matter specifically on bicycles, it did point out that his parks allowed females and males to participate in sport activities together for the first time. The first thing they showed was ice skating but the 2nd thing was bicycling. They had footage of this side by side tandem which is very similar in design to the OPs bike. I know there's a third wheel and the cranks appear independent of each other but otherwise quite similar. The footage looks to be around the 1920s or even a bit earlier.

 

[JT20]

I might get one of these

 

[andyd]

Side by side looks too wide to be ridden safely on a street with traffic on it. A single is skinny and able to evade traffic. I've gotten wary in my later yrs