Pedicab service comes to Niwot

One longtime Niwot resident is bringing his newly acquired pedicab service to Niwot just in time for the start of summer.

Robbie Vinson has lived in Niwot since he was a little kid and is looking forward to sharing his pedicab business, Subie Do LLC, with the rest of the community. Vinson isn’t the only one involved in the business though. His fiance Amy Frary is actually the one who owns the business, with Vinson managing it.

“Amy is currently an inventory manager at Budget Truck Rental,” Vinson explained, adding that her job gives her the perfect skills for this new business. “The hope is that we can do well enough for her to run the business full time.”

Vinson has most recently been working for Uber and Postmates, an on-demand delivery service for food, groceries, retail products, office supplies and more. His vision is to use pedicabs in the same way for residents of Niwot.

“That’s what we hope to keep us busy and pay the bills while establishing pedestrian business,” Vinson said. “We want to do a $10 per delivery fixed fee plus tip. From any store, food and retail goods in the Niwot area, by bicycle, at the drop of a phone call.”

Vinson and Frary purchased a pedicab service in Denver called Zebra and have been operating it from there, but are putting together a new fleet of cabs to have in Niwot. “We currently have 10 cabs but hope to have up to 30 by the end of the first year,” Vinson said.

Although Vinson may be spotted taking people around the town himself, there are independent contractors who will lease the cabs. While most of the people who will be leasing the bikes will be coming up from Denver, Vinson said some people in Niwot have already volunteered to drive cabs as well.

“Denver is a flagship for pedicabs throughout the country. We’re planning to bring the pedicabs into Boulder as well,” Vinson said, explaining they’ve been working with Boulder County to bring the business there.

Vinson knows Boulder would be the perfect place for his pedicab service, because of all the college kids. “We even want to create an app for people to use, something similar to the Uber app,” he explained.

Vinson and Frary will be debuting Subie Do at Rock & Rails this year, in hopes of getting their name out to the community.

“We’re going to provide free rides plus tips at Rock & Rails,” Vinson said. “We’re trying to have as many cabs as possible for the first night, about seven or eight.”

Vinson said they’ll be riding around helping people find parking as it becomes more scarce. “Our goal is to give people a ride in that last mile between public transportation and their final destination,” Vinson said. “We also hope to transport people back and forth between Cottonwood Square and downtown.”

He added they’d like to give people rides during some of Niwot’s popular events such as Let’s Wine About Winter and the parades that happen downtown.

“Everyone who talks about it loves the idea,” Vinson said of the feedback he’s gotten.

Vinson is restoring bikes himself, in his shop in Niwot. Some bikes have motors while others do not, but they are all allowed on bike paths and are all insured.

“We need to be able to get people anywhere, even up hills,” Vinson said, explaining why some bikes have motors.

As of now Vinson and Frary aren’t sure what a normal ride would cost, but would like to see a ride free option plus tips. They are also working with a private advertising company to increase revenue, which local businesses will be able to advertise on.

People can currently take rides with Subie Do, but Vinson will have a fleet of cabs by the time Rock & Rails starts on Thursday, June 2. For more information about Subie Do, email Vinson and Frary at [email protected].