Bike-in-a-bag scoots under competition

Tricky Hartley (left) and Graham Byron say their dial-a-driver service is cheaper as the fold-up bikes have an advantage over other firms - only one driver is needed. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Two Auckland entrepreneurs are launching a new dial-a-driver service with a twist.

Drivers from Motogo will arrive not in cars but on mini motorbikes, which can be folded up and put in the customer's car for the drive home.

Co-director Tricky Hartley said the need for only one driver meant they could undercut traditional dial-a-driver services which used cars and therefore needed two people.

Hartley says the concept is based on scooterMAN, operating in Britain for more than a decade with the slogan "You drink, we drive". A similar service has just started in Sydney.

The small collapsible bikes are dismantled and packed into a special heat-proof, leak-proof bag the size of a medium suitcase, which fits in the boot or back seat of any car.

The set $30 fee for the first 5km is similar to other dial-a-driver services, but thereafter the per kilometre rate is about 15 per cent less.

Hartley owns a bar in Mission Bay and is about to open a new one in Wynyard Quarter, and he's hoping the new service will help cut drink driving in the city.

"The anecdotal feedback is this more affordable service is reducing drink driving by making dial-a-drivers more accessible."

Motogo will launch on August 5 with six bikes, operated by passenger vehicle certified drivers, within a 15km radius of the Auckland CBD, initially excluding the North Shore.

If it takes off Motogo could cover the North Shore and cities outside Auckland too,

"The intention is to get it up and running before the Rugby World Cup, which is always going to be a golden egg, but we're thinking long-term."

Hartley and co-director Graham Byron hope to double the number of bikes by the end of the year and eventually offer franchises.