As a way to combat the reduced business that the streetcar construction has brought, Tucson Velo sponsor The B Line is beginning a bicycle delivery service on Monday.
The B Line manager Christine Ziegler said she knows the construction is daunting to their customers and is keeping many of them away. Biking and walking to the restaurant is easier, but the weather can make that challenging too.
“We are going to do it in part because we know it is really hard to get here with the construction and — in part because with summertime being as torturous as it is around here we know that is going to inhibit people coming down here even more,” she said. “We want to bring The B Line to them.”
Ziegler said there are three or four employees who have volunteered to deliver the food using their own bikes, which B Line equipped with racks, but they hope to expand the service if it goes well.
“We are hoping that delivery is such a success that we will get a B Line bike or trike to continue deliveries,” she said.
Bike delivery will be available for lunch orders from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be complementary.
The delivery zone is bounded by Elm on the north, Campbell on the east, Main on the west and Broadway on the south.
Check out their menu and contact info here.
That’s good to know. I can’t say I’m a frequent consumer of takeout, but I do like to support bike-powered efforts.
It also means that going to the actual B-Line isn’t necessary. I say this because I find it very difficult to hear in that place. It’s just too loud. I’ve also experienced the same problem at the Sky Bar.
We stopped by there yesterday afternoon. They are in the worst possible spot – 1 1/2 blocks of fencing and dirt road in either direction, and the bike racks are fenced off. It would be nice if they could speed up the process. Ironically, as soon as the road is done and the huge apts behind them open in the fall it will probably be hard to get in the place.
While we’re on this topic, I think that the Downtown and 4th Avenue powers-that-be are missing out on a huge opportunity.
The construction project could spark a lot of creativity in an area that’s know for it. So, why not have an evening Velociprints show on the fencing? Or some other sort of art show?
How about a Battle of the Buskers on 4th Avenue? Photo shoots? Music video shoots? Use the construction zone as a movie set? With local bicyclists as extras?
We could have construction watching parties. (Ever watched a construction job? It’s fascinating.) Or how about trading cards featuring the workers on the project?
If you think this is just Martha rattling away on Tucson Velo, I’m not the only one. Here’s another rattler from the Tucson Weekly:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/tqanda/Content?oid=3388775
Kurt Tallis of the 4th Ave Merchants Association is the person to contact with your suggestions. Kurt is all about promotion.
I’ve heard Shot in the Dark is doing bicycle delivery as well! Pretty cool to see local businesses are using bicycles to keep their heads above the water.
I offered suggestions to the FAMA guy who spoke at the last Ward 3 Neighbors meeting. He wasn’t Kurt Tallis, but I think he was Kurt’s boss.
And, in response to last Thursday’s TQ&A article in the Weekly (linked above), I wrote a letter to the editor.
This is awesome!! I have been wanting to send a couple of Portland Pedal Power cargo bike enclosures down to Tucson for years. Do you think more businesses would be into offering delivery?? Jenn@portlandpedalpower.com