He will drive your car while you drink with pals
Date Posted:
Thu, Aug 26 2010,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Arthur Simanovsky and his friends went out for nights on the town, no one wanted to be the designated driver. They would play the rock-paper-scissors game to choose the victim.
And so a business idea was hatched.
"No one likes to play that role," Mr. Simanovsky said, explaining why he has started a company to provide designated drivers to those planning an evening of revelry, or already in the middle of one.
BeMyDD (Be My Designated Driver) started operations in Pittsburgh this week after launching in three Ohio cities earlier this year, he said.
"BeMyDD is a new twist on a transportation service which gives people an affordable alternative to the usual limo or taxi. The premise is that 'We drive YOUR car, so you don't have to,' " Mr. Simanovsky said.
The company offers two services: A customer can reserve a driver ahead of time who will meet them at a location of their choice, chauffeur them around in their own car, wait for them and take them home, for $12.50 an hour.
For those who are already out and in no condition to drive, the company will dispatch two drivers to take them and their car home. That costs $25 plus $2.95 a mile for the first 10 miles and $1.50 per mile thereafter.
Mr. Simanovsky said he and co-owner Alexa Milkovich, residents of Solon, Ohio, and both fresh out of college, launched the business in Cleveland in March and now have 150 drivers there. They expanded to Columbus and Cincinnati on Aug. 1, and to Pittsburgh on Monday.
And so a business idea was hatched.
"No one likes to play that role," Mr. Simanovsky said, explaining why he has started a company to provide designated drivers to those planning an evening of revelry, or already in the middle of one.
BeMyDD (Be My Designated Driver) started operations in Pittsburgh this week after launching in three Ohio cities earlier this year, he said.
"BeMyDD is a new twist on a transportation service which gives people an affordable alternative to the usual limo or taxi. The premise is that 'We drive YOUR car, so you don't have to,' " Mr. Simanovsky said.
The company offers two services: A customer can reserve a driver ahead of time who will meet them at a location of their choice, chauffeur them around in their own car, wait for them and take them home, for $12.50 an hour.
For those who are already out and in no condition to drive, the company will dispatch two drivers to take them and their car home. That costs $25 plus $2.95 a mile for the first 10 miles and $1.50 per mile thereafter.
Mr. Simanovsky said he and co-owner Alexa Milkovich, residents of Solon, Ohio, and both fresh out of college, launched the business in Cleveland in March and now have 150 drivers there. They expanded to Columbus and Cincinnati on Aug. 1, and to Pittsburgh on Monday.