If you were in Pullman this weekend, you might have seen a human-drawn cart that looks more at home in the bustling cities of Asia than on the inclines of College Hill. Its owners, juniors Brian Doherty and Michael Bohm, hope the bike will help prevent DUIs and MIPs for students. They are starting the first-ever pedicab service at WSU.

Doherty, an international business major, said they will begin service soon, pending weather. They wanted to start last month but had issues with insurance.

Their pedicab is a seven-speed bike with custom hand and foot brakes. They plan on charging a negotiable $3 per person per ride. The hours will be from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends and Thursday nights. “The bike seats two people, maybe three if you want a snug ride, and we plan on getting the white chariot painted at some point,” Doherty said. The real attraction would be rides during home football games, he said. There will also be more opportunities for pedicab rides in Moscow because the University of Idaho campus is so much flatter than Pullman, said Bohm, a history and education major. However, WSU is their first choice in business.

“Its transportainment," Doherty said. "We are doing this as a fun and safe alternative for students getting around.” It all started last summer at a Seattle Mariners game, Doherty said. While they waited to enter Safeco Field, Doherty and Bohm noticed a pedicab service near the stadium. They began to wonder if an idea like that could work on a college campus.

Doherty said they read in a newspaper article that pedicabs were successful in college towns, so they thought it was worth a shot. A month later, they drove down to Portland, Ore., and found the help they needed. A business named Cascadia Cabs would be the beginning of their business – El Puma Chariots. A man at Cascadia Cabs was optimistic about pedicabs in college towns and cut them a good deal on a bike. After their trip, they came back with a pedicab and a lot of hope. If they were going to be serious, they had to become insured and get a business license, Doherty said. The only remaining issue for them to start service is that they are not allowed to operate in winter conditions, he said.

“Insurance will not cover us in ice or snow,” Doherty said. He said they will avoid the bigger hills, and they also have a canopy in case of rain. They will switch nights with each other to make it fair, so no one gets worn out. Doherty said he hopes to leave Pullman with a degree in hand and as many as 15 pedicabs for the business. “We hope to make El Puma Chariots as an icon for Pullman, like the Bryan Clock Tower and The Coug,” he said.

For more information, visit the El Puma Chariots Facebook page or call 253-315-9995.