Pedaling messages downtown

Megjelent: Budapest Sun
Megjelenés dátuma: 1994
Szerző: Catherine Hickley
Fotó: Burger Barna

Sucking Lada exhaust while weaving through madcap Budapest traffic all day is not a recipe for increasing one’s life expectancy. But two young Hungarians see a future in it.

“It’s hard work and dangerous,” said László Géresi, 20, one of the founders of Hajtás Pajtás, the only bicycle courier service currently operating in the capital. “But we really wanted to do something we liked,” he added. “We didn’t want to do big business.”

Along with his half-brother, 30-year-old Zoltán Tóth, Géresi set up Hajtás Pajtás – the name translates roughly as “Move it, pal!” – last October. The two brothers, both guitarists with local bands, were bored with odd jobs painting and decorating. Géresi and Tóth started the company on a shoestring. They keep overhead costs low by operating out of their home, as does their dispatcher. And Géresi still rides a bicycle borrowed from a friend. “We have no money for anything,” he said.

The four cyclists now working for the company wear shirts bearing the logo of HVG, the weekly Hungarian economics magazine, which until recently carried their advertising in return. But the deal has come to an end, and Géresi and Tóth are seeking new sponsors. Ideally, they want to make a new deal with a telecommunications company that could give them badly needed radio or telephone equipment in return for wearing their logo. At the moment they rely on public telephones to contact their dispatcher.

Insurance is another luxury they cannot afford. Géresi can point to cuts and bruises from minor collisions, but says that fortunately there have been no serious accidents. One expense Géresi and Tóth do deem to be absolutely necessary is their masks, which at least partially protect them from the city’s poisonous fumes. “They cost quite a lot for us,” said Géresi. “They are 1,500 forints and we have to buy one each every month.”

Business has picked up in recent weeks. The cyclists are all on the job eight or nine hours a day. They even plan to recruit a new messenger. Hajtás Pajtás charges 250 forints for a delivery the distance of Keleti station to Deák tér. According to Géresi, nearly all their clients are regular customers, including a number of Western firms. Géresi said he thinks Westerners are more likely than Hungarians to opt for bicycle messengers over motorized delivery vehicles, on environmental grounds.In spite of lethal air and crazy drivers, Géresi is still convinced that a bicycle is the best form of transport for Budapest. “I don’t understand why everybody is sitting in their cars for an hour to get to Deák tér, when it takes 5 to 10 minutes by bicycle,” he said.

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