The evening was to be a launch, of sorts. The Durham Bulls were opening an eight-game home stand June 14. What better way to promote the wind-in-your-face fun of a pedicab ride than offering free pregame rides from the parking lot to the ballpark?

"A limited audience, I guess, " Dana Di Maio said as he sat on his dark blue pedicab after the game started. "I took three rides total ... no, four."

Di Maio is the part-time pedicab coordinator for Greenway Transit, part of a Durham nonprofit pushing a variety of "green" initiatives ranging from its fleet of biodiesel buses and vans to biofuels to Third World fair trade.

Right now Di Maio is also the only driver for the two pedicabs that over time he hopes will become part of the streetscape linking the American Tobacco Historic District, downtown Durham, Brightleaf Square and Ninth Street. He's looking for drivers and exposure, some of which the pedicabs will get Saturday in the parade that accompanies Durham Rising.

Di Maio's first riders of the evening last week couldn't pass up the free novelty, which came with their confession: "I'm lazy," said both Curtis Walker, 18, and Michael Leathers, 19, before jumping into the pedicab for a brisk three-minute ride from the East Pettigrew Street parking deck around the corner to the ballpark's front entrance on Blackwell Street. Among the other riders were a middle-aged couple and two younger women.

"The people seemed to like it," Di Maio said. "One person said it was like New York."

But the 30 minutes of pregame pedaling had the 23-year-old Guilford College graduate scratching his head about how to position a business that has little precedent in Durham (though a bit more in Raleigh and Chapel Hill).

He needs at least four drivers to commit to pedaling four weeks or more. One compensation model would have the driver rent the pedicab for $30 for a four-hour evening and pocket fees and tips.

The fee scale has the first 10 minutes costing $5 for one rider, $7 for two and $11 for three. Everything over 10 minutes is $1 per minute. An hour costs $55. Shirts, caps and brochures pushing the pedicabs have yet to surface.

Di Maio is contemplating flat fees for university functions and conferences. He says conferences focusing on environmental issues might be fertile ground. Likewise "green" weddings and history tours.

The focus of Di Maio's strategizing is two $4,500 tricycles with padded benches (two- and three-seaters) over the two rear wheels and an awning (no fringe). From his perch in front, the driver grinds through 21 gears and flicks lighted turn signals. The body is fiberglass. The frame is aluminum. The whole ensemble is 80 pounds on balloon tires and is so tight and light it almost hums along the street.

The two pedicabs and insurance were purchased through a $13,000 grant this spring from John Sall, co-founder of SAS Institute.

From Greenway Transit's base at 1404 Angier Ave., Di Maio's boss, Marc Dreyfors, 45, sees pedicabs as not only an ecologically sensible and responsible transportation alternative in congested cities, but just plain fun.

"When you go through East Durham neighborhoods [on a pedicab], it's like being a rock star," he said. "People yell from their porches. It's heartfelt. It doesn't make money, but it's really cool."

Now Greenway Transit is searching for a business model to turn its fledgling "green" pedicab efforts into something that generates the folding green of dollars.

"It's a Catch-22," Di Maio said about building a customer base. "You have to be popular to be popular."