Come on and take a free ride – on Aspen’s new, eco-friendly, free ride service.
It almost sounds too good to be true.
It’s free, it’s eco-friendly, and it’s providing a desperately needed service to downtown Aspen. The Downtowner debuts its free rides this summer in Aspen with a fleet of five 6-passenger electric vehicles. The City of Aspen is footing the bill for the service, which will run from June 15 – September 15 at a cost of about $1,000 a day.
The City of Aspen jumped on board, so to speak, in an effort to combat the congestion of car traffic in downtown Aspen. The service operates from the downtown core to Seventh Street in the West End (note the service area does not include Red Mountain, The Music Tent or Aspen Institute/Aspen Meadows campus). Even better, dogs are allowed so plan to use this service when bee-bopping around town with your furry friend. The city also raised parking fees by 50% in an effort to dissuade drivers from coming into downtown, so The Downtowner is a much better option than sky-high meter fees or (sometimes it happens no matter how hard you try) expensive parking tickets.
Aspen is one of only four cities where the service is available, including Newport Beach and Manhattan Beach in California and Del Ray Beach, Florida. The service works a lot like Uber: download the app, request a ride, and track your driver’s location. The service is totally free, so it’s always nice to tip your driver. According to The Downtowner’s web site, one of the Aspen drivers is a Peruvian Niko. His call sign is “Neeks,” and he apparently knows how to tear up the dance floor.
Now that’s what we call taking a free ride.
For more information, go to www.ridedowntowner.com