Have you ever been bar-hopping in the Fan and wanted to get to Shockoe Bottom, but lacked a car or soberiety. For about two weeks, a group of Richmond restaurants offered a solution to drunk driving, no transportation, and catching a cab – and it was all for free.
The Richmond Restaurant Connection Shuttle operated Wednesday and Saturday nights from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., stopping at Lucky Lounge, Tonic, The Border Chophouse, Starlite, The Curbside, The Metro Grille, and Bandito’s Burrito Lounge.
But, the spectacular convenience screeched to a halt for liability reasons.
“I wish it would have worked,” said Rob Kaplan, co-owner of Lucky Lounge, and parent of the connection shuttle. The service stopped because the restaurants who were paying for the service would be held responsible for any injuries that occurred on the shuttle unless they were put on the shuttle company’s insurance, something the shuttle owner was unwilling to do.
Kaplan said he wanted to offer customers a service that would get Fan residents to the Bottom, and ensure that “people didn’t have to worry about drunk driving.”
“I’d like to, but I don’t see how, to tell the truth,” he said about getting involved in future plans of another similar shuttle service. Government help would be necessary, he said, and no one has approached the city.
Joey McCullough, general manager of Tonic, said, “It was a business plan, but had nothing to back it up.”
McCullough said the shuttle company owner wasn’t willing to work with the restaurants by refusing to add them to the insurance plan. He also said the shuttle owner couldn’t guarantee that the shuttle would increase business in those specific restaurants.
Although McCullough agrees that this was a good plan to get business back down to the Bottom, he said the people riding the shuttle didn’t fit the clientele specific to Tonic. Oftentimes, people would get off the bus and go to Tiki Bob’s or Have A Nice Day Caf