April 18, 2005
Drive my car | Daniel Furst's new business transports revelers — and their cars — home from the Old Port
By Joseph Thompson
Picture this: Your boss just gave you a big promotion. You hit Portland's Old Port to celebrate, and now it's midnight. You drank more than bottled water, and you're not sober enough to drive. So what do you do? Pay for a cab to bring you home, and then another one to bring you back to your car in the morning (assuming it hasn't been towed)? Risk getting an asterisk on your record because of a drunk-driving arrest? Stagger miles home?
Kindergarten teacher Daniel Furst, 34, has been there. "When I moved out here I was all about going to the Old Port," says Furst, who relocated to Scarborough from California six years ago. "There have been plenty of nights when the parking garage was closing in an hour and I knew I was too drunk to drive. Even though I haven't gotten an OUI, it just scares you out of your mind."
That's why on St. Patrick's Day Furst introduced Home Runners, which provides the inebriated with a ride home in their own car. Furst took the idea from Home James, a Los Angeles company that provides a similar service. "Home James uses scooters that fold up and collapse into people's trunks. There is one driver who rides his scooter out there to meet you, folds up his scooter, puts in the trunk and then he drives you home. He unfolds his scooter to go onto the next gig," Furst says.
At the time, Furst wasn't planning to start a business. "I was just so inspired by the idea and saw such a need for it that I decided I had to try and adapt the idea to Portland," he says. Due to Maine's extended winter and other weather concerns, Furst ditched the scooters in favor of a pair of drivers, one to drive the customer home and the other to bring the driver back. "There's a safety advantage with drivers over the scooters, as well," he says. "I wouldn't want a 25-year-old female driver getting into a car with three drunk guys all by herself. It isn't a great idea. Having a car drive behind with everyone hooked up with cell phones adds a lot of safety to the situation."
Furst also examined the liability issue and found that his drivers would be covered under the customer's insurance. Just to be sure, his drivers ˆ each of whom, like himself, is a professional with a day job ˆ have customers sign a release before they get into the driver's seat. Home Runners charges $15 for runs within Portland, and up to $25 for trips to Falmouth, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and Westbrook. (Prices for areas beyond that range are negotiable.) Along with a ride, customers also get a bag for nausea, a bottle of water and a small bag of pretzels.
Home Runners operates Thursday through Saturday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. On its début weekend, the service, which Furst advertised by posting flyers around town, received six or seven calls a night. Since then, it's averaged three or four calls a night. "It's just going to take a while to get the awareness out there that there is a service like this to use," says Furst.
Still, the people Home Runners has reached appreciate it. Furst says one of his early customers was "a big brawny dude down at a country bar who didn't want anyone to take his truck. It was the bartender who called us," he says. "Halfway home, [the customer] was like, 'This is so great. I'm gonna use you guys again.'"
Eventually, Furst would like to see the business grow to 20 to 30 calls a night, or even beyond that. "I'd like to dominate the universe," he says.
Kindergarten teacher Daniel Furst, 34, has been there. "When I moved out here I was all about going to the Old Port," says Furst, who relocated to Scarborough from California six years ago. "There have been plenty of nights when the parking garage was closing in an hour and I knew I was too drunk to drive. Even though I haven't gotten an OUI, it just scares you out of your mind."
That's why on St. Patrick's Day Furst introduced Home Runners, which provides the inebriated with a ride home in their own car. Furst took the idea from Home James, a Los Angeles company that provides a similar service. "Home James uses scooters that fold up and collapse into people's trunks. There is one driver who rides his scooter out there to meet you, folds up his scooter, puts in the trunk and then he drives you home. He unfolds his scooter to go onto the next gig," Furst says.
At the time, Furst wasn't planning to start a business. "I was just so inspired by the idea and saw such a need for it that I decided I had to try and adapt the idea to Portland," he says. Due to Maine's extended winter and other weather concerns, Furst ditched the scooters in favor of a pair of drivers, one to drive the customer home and the other to bring the driver back. "There's a safety advantage with drivers over the scooters, as well," he says. "I wouldn't want a 25-year-old female driver getting into a car with three drunk guys all by herself. It isn't a great idea. Having a car drive behind with everyone hooked up with cell phones adds a lot of safety to the situation."
Furst also examined the liability issue and found that his drivers would be covered under the customer's insurance. Just to be sure, his drivers ˆ each of whom, like himself, is a professional with a day job ˆ have customers sign a release before they get into the driver's seat. Home Runners charges $15 for runs within Portland, and up to $25 for trips to Falmouth, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and Westbrook. (Prices for areas beyond that range are negotiable.) Along with a ride, customers also get a bag for nausea, a bottle of water and a small bag of pretzels.
Home Runners operates Thursday through Saturday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. On its début weekend, the service, which Furst advertised by posting flyers around town, received six or seven calls a night. Since then, it's averaged three or four calls a night. "It's just going to take a while to get the awareness out there that there is a service like this to use," says Furst.
Still, the people Home Runners has reached appreciate it. Furst says one of his early customers was "a big brawny dude down at a country bar who didn't want anyone to take his truck. It was the bartender who called us," he says. "Halfway home, [the customer] was like, 'This is so great. I'm gonna use you guys again.'"
Eventually, Furst would like to see the business grow to 20 to 30 calls a night, or even beyond that. "I'd like to dominate the universe," he says.
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