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Eco-friendly free shuttle service could be on its way to Asbury Park this summer.

Owners of The Free Ride, which operates in several location in the N.Y. Hamptoms, Palm Beach, Fla. and Santa Monica, Calif., pitched a plan to operate electronic shuttles between the boardwalk and downtown to the Asbury Park City Council Wednesday.

The Free Ride service would bring elongated electric golf carts to the city to shuttle people around from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends and during Oysterfest weekend, The Free Ride co-founder James Mirras said.

Mirras and his business partner Alex Esposito teamed up with the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce to bring the service to the city. The two high school friend co-founded the Long Island, N.Y. based company.

Service would be provided seven days a week at optimal times between the boardwalk and the downtown in both directions, said Jackie Pappas, the chamber’s executive director.

The cars are fully street legal and registered as low-speed vehicles, Mirras said.

Financing is based on sponsorships and advertising on the outside of the vehicles, Mirras said. Advertising space on iPad screens on the insides of the cars can also display menus from area restaurants and other events happening in the city to help guide summer visitors.

In Mirras experience, tourists asked the drivers a lot of questions about places to go and things to do in the areas they serve, so the service naturally progressed into drivers providing word-of-mouth suggestions to people unfamiliar with the area.

“We gain ambassadors for the city in crucial months,” said Pappas.

Area residents over 21 would be employed to drive the cars.

Mirras and his business partner are working with private businesses to use storage space and to the electric cars but are open to working with the city to find a more permanent space.

[Image at top taken from The Free Ride website.]

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