Pedicabs will soon be on the streets of Evansville, said Mary Allen, owner of downtown Sixth Street Soapery.
She purchased two of the small, pedal-operated vehicles and is going before the city's Safety Board this month to get approval to start operating the vehicles. She hopes to have their official debut during the April's First Friday in Haynie's Corner Arts District on April 7.
Allen and her husband Greg went to Savannah, Georgia about a year and a half ago and took a pedicab nearly everywhere they went.
"It was so much fun," she said. "The pedicab driver was so personable and told us stories about the town. It was neat to connect with the community that way. I thought, 'Why can't we have something like this in Evansville?'"
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Initially, she dismissed the idea because she didn't feel like it would fly in the community -- she felt Evansville wasn't bike-friendly enough and had no ordinances set up for such a thing. But then the community's bike-share program recently launched and the idea reemerged.
"I thought, 'Why not? Let's try it and see what kind of reception it gets. Hopefully, it will be well-received,'" Allen said. "It is just one more fun concept to add to Downtown."
She connected with someone who had a pedicab operation in Denver who was retiring and purchased the two vehicles from him. They arrived Saturday night.
"I was so excited we had to get them out," Allen said. "So we did our first ride Sunday morning."
On their maiden voyage -- they drove to church Sunday morning -- the excitement from passersby was evident. They had people honking and waving, friends hopped on for a ride and there was lots of laughing.
"It was a ton of fun," she said.
Evansville Pedicab plans to have the two pedicabs available for rental for private events, as well as operating throughout the week and weekend connecting the city's main areas -- Downtown, Haynie's Corner, Franklin Street and North Main Street. Allen said she hopes to collaborate with some historical organizations in the community to develop a few different sight-seeing and historical tours of the community for visitors or residents alike via the pedicabs.
"It should be such a fun experience, just one more thing our community can offer," Allen said. "And it should be great for connectivity -- both relationally and geographically."