Weaving your car through the Cherry Creek business district is no easy task — business is booming, and there are people everywhere. It seems like every corner you turn reveals a line of traffic cones or a construction worker holding a stop sign. Finding parking is a mission in itself.

Cherry Creek resident Mike Sweeny believes he has the answer to the area’s traffic and parking headaches — for now and in the future, when major construction is a memory. His solution is a fleet of sleek, enclosed golf carts to haul people around the neighborhood. The carts are powered by electric batteries, hold six people and feature a video screen for each passenger. They operate in an area bordered by University and Colorado boulevards, Cherry Creek Drive and Sixth Avenue.

The carts are the backbone of a Cherry Creek service Sweeny launched called Eco-Rides USA. Like catching an Uber or Lyft, you can hail an Eco-Rides cart, but you won’t pay for the ride. The service is funded through advertisements that play in a continuous loop on the video monitors inside the carts. So far, the service is proving attractive to retail shops and hair salons, Sweeny and his business partners, Miles Malone and Anna Rodriguez, said.

They believe Eco-Rides can attract people to Cherry Creek and keep them there, helping persuade locals to shop and spend in the neighborhood.

In addition, the trio believes Eco-Rides is doing its part to reduce vehicle emissions and improve life for everyone. They estimate if 500 people per day ride 2 miles in their carts, they can eliminate 14,600 grams of carbon monoxide and 2,200 grams of hydrocarbon pollution from the environment per year.

“Being from Colorado, I’ve always known us to have that feel as far as the air being cleaner and people being more conscious of the environment,” Malone said. “We want to do our part to see what it is we can contribute to help the environment and the city.”

Cherry Creek resident Leslie New regularly uses Eco-Rides to meet friends for coffee or get to local meetings. She says she has seen older residents use the service to get around town and met a woman whose grandchildren ride the carts to their dance classes.

“It is a great time saver, and I just think that it is a win for the environment,” New said. “It is a win for the hassle of trying to park, and it is just one of those rare ideas that everything that comes along with it is a positive.”

Eco-Rides has received support from the Cherry Creek Business Improvement District, the Cherry Creek Business Alliance and Denver City Council members, including Mary Beth Susman.

An app that will allow passengers to request a ride is in the works. For now, passengers can wave down a cart, much as they would a taxi in New York. Eco-Rides is available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Eventually, Sweeny would like to expand beyond Cherry Creek.

“We want to be the first mile and last mile of your daily commute,” he said, connecting people with local public transit systems like buses and light rail.







