Pedal-powered shuttles storm streets

ON your bike takes on a different meaning today when pedal power hits Dublin’s streets.

A keen cyclist, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan will help kick-start the service.

Dublin Lord Mayor Paddy Bourke will take the first free lift around the city with Ecocabs, the country’s only completely emission-free and free-of-charge passenger service.

Launched in early 2007, the Ecocabs service consists of a fleet of futuristic muscle powered tricycles.

The aim of the initiative is to discourage the use of cars for short journeys in the congested city centre areas by adopting a sustainable, alternative mode of transport.

Corporate sponsors, who buy campaign space for their products, are meeting the full cost of the shuttle service which runs each day from 11am to 7pm until December 31.

Since last year’s launch the Ecocabs fleet has more than doubled, providing a cool way to travel for more than 2,000 passengers per week.

Dublin entrepreneurs Andrew Casey and Olaf O’Moore, who founded the service, have been recognised by business associations and nominated for several business and entrepreneurship awards.

On their travels to other countries the business partners coincidentally discovered how pedal power can be harnessed in city centre locations around the world to sell a message.

“We saw the vehicles and we had a shared admiration for them,” explained Andrew.

“A lot of the cities that use them either push a tourist aspect to it or they push an advertising side to it.

“But we didn’t find any other model around the world that actually pushes an environmental angle to it,” he added.

It is planned to expand the service to other Irish cities, including Cork and Belfast later this year.