Saturday, October 31, 2009

Salem Bike Taxi Joins Mix of Downtown Transportation Options

As those of you who follow the Salem twittersphere or the goings-on at Venti's know, there's a new pedicab service running downtown! This is a great new addition to the mix of downtown services as well as the culture of downtown.

The owner and operator, Michele Darr, joined us at B on B yesterday, and we got to talk and find out more about the service.
Our primary objective is to offer another option of sustainable, peaceful transportation in Oregon's Capitol city. 7 days a week people can most predictably find us around the Downtown/State Capitol/Waterfront areas, unless we are doing one of our tours (which include Bush Park, Waterfront Park, Mission Mill, Bike Bridge-Wallace Marine Park, and many more) or transporting people to other parts of town. We are available for pre-scheduled as well as on-demand taxi service, errand assistance, tours, weddings, special events, deliveries, etc...

The hours of operation:
Sunday-Thursday, 11am-8pm
Friday and Saturday, 11am-2am-ish
by appointment outside of these hours
503-569-7223
fares by donation
(website under construction)

Michele grew up in Salem and then spent significant time in the middle east, including time in Kuwait during the 1990 Iraqi invasion. These experiences inform her desire for peace and for a reduction in our dependence on oil.

For Michele, using human-power is central in both projects. In 2007 she biked across the country with her three children in trailer and tag-along to arrive for rallies in Washington, DC on September 21st, the International Day of Peace.

Her latest expression of the projects is the Salem Bike Taxi service. She's already lined up her first advertiser, Venti's. The cab can be fully enclosed, and there's a blanket for additional warmth. A battery assist helps with the hills.

Welcome to Salem, Michele!

2 comments:

Debbie Boe said...

This makes me very happy!

Anonymous said...

Way to go....