12/18/08
SANTA MARIA - United Parcel Service is currently testing a pilot program on the Central Coast, aimed at taking trucks off the road and replacing them with bicycles.
Bike route rider Mike Castillo says his customers are often surprised. They expect a truck to pull up but, instead see him on his bicycle.
He is responsible for one of seven bike shipping routes now operating in the Santa Maria Valley. Castillo makes hundreds of stops each week, delivering packages rain or shine.
UPS is also testing bike routes in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, as well as other cities from coast to coast.
Business Manager Steve Glenn says because it takes more bike routes to cover the same area, more people are needed so, more jobs are created. The project saves the company money however because it pulls several diesel guzzling trucks off the road. Glenn says UPS is also happy about the environmental benefits of the program and hopes it will expand in the future.
The bike route plan isn't actually anything new for UPS. The company was founded more than a century ago using bicycles to deliver packages.
