Virginia Beach
"Need a ride, need a ride?" Marc Bullard goaded a couple weighed down recently with shopping bags in Virginia Beach's Town Center. "Looks like you're carrying a lot of stuff."
His friend, Andrew Bargy, caught a glimpse of the woman's high heels and chided, "Those shoes must hurt."
Their banter was designed to entice the couple off their feet and into one of their bicycle-drawn rickshaws.
The city's hub of shops, restaurants, apartments and offices might have been designed to be pedestrian-friendly, but Bargy and his company are proving that some people just aren't ready to give up on a set of wheels.
Since November, Seven Cities Rickshaws has been pedaling people who are too tired, too drunk or too unfamiliar with the 14-block Town Center to hoof it.
Bargy, 36, and his crew of three riders have become nighttime fixtures in Town Center on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They can be found at the corner of Market and Bank Street; rides also can be arranged by calling (757) 417-5595. They shuttle riders between the arts center, restaurants, bars and the parking garages. Most of their stops are within three blocks and they charge $2 a person, but they said they earn far more in tips.
"It's kind of a nice little way to get from point A to point B," said Rob Hudome, project manager in the Beach's economic development office. "It's just kind of an amenity or something fun to do. Now that Town Center is maturing, we're trying to grow the entertainment and what's out there."
Some people are drawn to the rickshaws even if they have nowhere to go.
Michelle Warren and her friend Mechele Bauer took a rickshaw tour after dinner last week.
"We wanted a really good memory of the night," said Warren, who was celebrating her 26th birthday.
Bargy, a carpenter by day, said he got the idea for his business after seeing the rickshaws in Savannah, Ga. For the past two years, he has transported tourists around Sandbridge during the summer.
Bicycle rickshaws have long spun through Asian countries, and they are becoming more common in such Western cities as London and New York.
Bargy wants to eventually expand his rickshaw business. His dream is to set up another operation along the Oceanfront.
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
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Rickshaws
Why is this such a big deal? The business opportunity exists and someone is capitalizing on it. Most people need to stop worrying about how people want to spend their money in this town.
Give Me a Break!
Give me a break! Town Center is just a couple of blocks across. Are people getting so lazy (and overweight)they can't expend the energy to get 200 ft on their own? A better more healthy arrangement would be to let these passengers pull the rickshaw employees around. That way they could get a good workout on the way to their destination.
Gasp! What, no taxpayer subsidy???
Quick! The DED must give this business taxpayers funds, why how can it survive without government subsidy? Imagine that, a private sector person investing his own money to try to provide a service people are willing to pay for - and still make a profit? The owner wants to expand to the Oceanfront? Great! Let's scrap the millions we waste to run the Trolly and buses each year and let him have at it. Oh wait, HRT and the new HRTA will no doubt seize his business because they "own" transportation - right? Mike Townes can't have someone cutting in on his "turf" ya know.
rickshaw travel
Keeping intocicated people in the rider's seat is a good idea. Hope they take a cab home.