By Marilu Garrido

The News (Mexico), August 29, 2002

As Mexico City has grown into one of the world's largest cities, in-house couriers are becoming a luxury that only few can afford. And those who can often see their delivery process slowed down by terrible traffic jams.

A common practice among current courier companies now is to ask clients to send their package the next day, or pay an extra-charge for rush delivery.

After living in the capital for the past six months, Danish bikers Peter Aagaaro (27) and Jacob Fasting (26) have come up with another idea: implementing a bicycle delivery service.

Having worked as bicycle couriers in Copenhagen, they envision this delivery service for selected parts of the city, such as the central Zona Rosa, Cuauhtemoc and Condesa neighborhoods where many businesses are located.

"In the center of Copenhagen, there are about 300 bikes for approximately one million people," Fasting told The News. "It is a fast service that produces no pollution and takes no space."

Claiming they have been circulating around the city without having been stopped by police, these adventurous bikers navigate through the asphalt jungle.

In Mexico City, vulnerable bikers and pedestrians are prone to accidents and the entrepreneurs are aware of the risks they are taking.

"People open the doors of their cars without looking in the mirror, but the same thing happens in Copenhagen," said Fasting. "Motorcycle riding is even more dangerous than biking. With the bike I can jump, I can move ... in a motorcycle accident, you can get serious injuries."

On their web site, the biking entrepreners assert similar courier services exist in European cities such as London, Prague, Copenhagen and Berlin. In the North America, cities such as New York and Toronto have implemented this option as well.

"Mexico City is perfect for the project," says Fasting. "Traffic jams are so bad that bicycles would be good."

"Our messenger system is fast and delivers within 10 minutes," says Aagaaro.

In order to accomplish the project, Fasting and Aagaaro envision the creation of jobs for people with biking experience.

It's about hiring young, sporty people who have good spirit," said Aagaaro. "They (the bicycle couriers) would ride about 120 kilometers per day."

The capital's car drivers often show little respect for pedestrians. However, pedestrians are equally careless when crossing the streets. While biking offers a good workout, a courier might hit pedestrians who would not normally expect to encounter a fast biker on the streets.

"Pedestrians are bad!" says Peter. "We do not want to make eye contact with pedestrians because they get insecure."

However, the cycling project can also be seen as an alternative to the mayor's ambitious project of building double decks over two local highways in an effort to ease traffic and pollution.

"We want to change the (people's) attitude instead of (changing) infrastructure," says Fasting. "We are here to start a biking culture."

For more information on bicycle couriers visit their website: http://www.cyclosmensajeros.com