Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Trolley-Bicycle Hybrid Comes to Rochester

The Rochester Pedal Tours trolley will look similar to this model used in Buffalo.
rochesterpedaltours.com
The Rochester Pedal Tours trolley will look similar to this model used in Buffalo.

This summer, a new mode of transportation is coming to downtown Rochester.

"It's the body of a trolley with the insides of a bicycle. It fits fifteen people - 12 pedalers, 3 riders - and you go through the streets. You pick where you want to go,” said Philip Szal, who's starting a company called Rochester Pedal Tours.

This trolley-bicycle hybrid can be rented for pub and restaurant craws or architectural tours through the city.

"We just have to be responsible and respectful of the motorists, Szal said. “I'll pull to the side and let all of the cars pass me. We stop at stop signs and red lights and all that. It goes five miles an hour. It really doesn't go faster than that unless we're going downhill."

Rochester Pedal Tours is a spin off a popular attraction Szal's father launched in Buffalo. Based on that experience, he says other drivers and pedestrians can get in on the fun, too.

“I’m driving upfront. No one is angry. Everyone is honking and taking photos and everyone is high-fiving on board. That’s what people like the most. They like to be seen; to get the attention.”

Heidi Zimmer Meyer of the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation sees this new downtown venture as a symbol of growth.

"The fact that they're coming here I think is a sign of that we have a critical mass of downtown residents, that we have new hotel operations down here. We're getting on the map in a very different kind of way," she said.

The first tours are already booked for the second week in July. The trolley/bicycle was designed and built in the Netherlands.

When it arrives here, Rochester will be among 21 U.S. cities with the vehicles.

Szal is currently developing a website for his Rochester business. The current link (above) will take you to the Buffalo site.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.