Downtown eateries drive customers to their doors

Russell Rankin, the owner of the fleet of 10 General Electric Motors cars, has been experimenting with the shuttles for a couple of years, with routes running in Ocean City and Washington, D.C. Many local residents and visitors of Annapolis may have first spied the vehicles out and about during the 2008 and 2009 boat shows.

Last month Rankin officially launched the Annapolis Restaurant Shuttle, which now has seven member businesses. Galway Bay on Maryland Avenue; Federal House, Middleton Tavern and O'Briens in Market Space; Harry Browne's Restaurant on State Circle; Reynolds Tavern on Church Circle; and Breeze and Weather Rail at the Loews Annapolis Hotel on West Street are the first to participate in the service.

And it's free to riders.

To get a ride, customers need only dial the phone number to have a shuttle pick them up from a garage, their home or even the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium to get dropped off in front of one of the member businesses. The customers are free to mill around downtown, shop and visit other businesses before calling for their return ride. All they need is a receipt from the member restaurant, and they're on their way back.

So long as it's not too late, Rankin added.

"Our evening hours end at around 9 p.m. because most businesses downtown don't stay open past then anyway, and I mean it's kind of at the discretion of the driver," Rankin said. "We aren't a commuter service. You know, we don't want to be a drunk bus, that's not what we're trying to do."

The restaurants pay a monthly fee to eCruisers to offer rides to their patrons and supply the ads displayed on Rankin's carts. For the restaurant operators to participate, the lunch service rate schedule is $250, $300 for dinner and the package for both is $500, Rankin said.

"We're probably going to cap off our member restaurants at 14 or 15 because we want to offer a competitive advantage for the ones who want to do it," Rankin said. "We don't have any goals really for ridership, but we do 1,200 people a month in D.C., and we'd love to get to that here."

Jeremy Black, the owner of Federal House, said while he believes the eco-friendly aspects of the shuttle service are novel and appeal to his customers who are green-conscious, he's more in it as a means to literally drive in customers.

Black said parking woes are one of the major deterrents for locals to travel in town to eat, and though he feels tourist traffic will be steady regardless, he hopes the shuttle could bring in more residents during those off-seasons for visitors.

"I just thought it was a good thing to get into," Black said. "For someone local who avoids coming in town because of traffic, because they have to feed the meter or move the car, someone who stays away from town for that reason, maybe this will give them a reason to come visit me. I can pay the bills without the locals coming in here, but that's not the goal."

He said he eventually plans to have an ad with information about the shuttle on the back of every one of his menus to help spread the word, he said.

For Rusty Romo, owner of Harry Browne's Restaurant, it has always been a challenge getting customers in the door because of his State Circle location, he said. Finding nearby parking - especially with the cold weather chilling night strolls and the legislative session gobbling up spots in the garages - keeps many patrons at bay.

"We're sort of a little bit off the beaten path so anything that can move people from downtown or Eastport toward the circle is a nice thing for us," he said.

The eCruisers drivers scoot around town to make pick-ups anywhere from Murray Hill, West Gate Circle, downtown West Street to Church Circle, across College Avenue to King George Street and all of the Historic District over to Cathedral and Duke of Gloucester streets to the Spa Creek Bridge. And they serve all of Eastport from Horn Point to Adams Street.

"From our perspective, we're trying to benefit the entire downtown business community because member businesses. The customers are free to mill around downtown, shop and visit other businesses before calling for their return ride. All they need is a receipt from the member restaurant, and they're on their way back.