ENCINITAS -- Starting Saturday, June 6, downtown shoppers and restaurant patrons will have a new way to cruise Coast Highway on weekends.

They can ride on a vegetable-oil-powered shuttle bus that will make its way along the highway from Leucadia all the way down to Cardiff and back.

Round trips last an hour, and the bus will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets cost $1 a ride, or $5 for a weekend pass.

"It's so exciting -- it's been a long time in coming," said Paula Kirpalani, program manager for the Leucadia 101 Main Street Association, which is helping organize the shuttle.

For now, the service is a 14-week pilot project. It will run through Labor Day weekend, and then the three merchants' groups along the highway will assess whether it has been a success.

"The goal is to have it (be) a permanent feature in our city," Kirpalani said.

The second day after the shuttle service starts, the 12-passenger bus will be featured at the beginning of the Encinitas Environment Day festivities at Cottonwood Creek Park.

The shuttle's operators will demonstrate how it uses the vegetable oil, then the bus will make its daily circuit along the highway, Kirpalani said.

Bruno Mora, co-owner of Wherever Shuttle with Ryan Wilcox, said their bus can go about 20 miles on a gallon of vegetable oil.

When the bus is warming up, "you can definitely smell a cooking smell," but after that it doesn't smell that much, he said.

It has a much nicer scent than diesel fuel, he added.

His company gets its fuel from restaurants.

The new "Coast Cruiser" bus will be powered by oil from the Beach City Cafe, and the Cap'n Kenos, Raul's and Giovanni's restaurants -- all of which are along the Coast Highway route.

Having local restaurants provide the fuel was one of the project goals, Kirpalani said, adding that contributions from other restaurants are still being sought.

Businesses along the coastal highway route have long wanted to increase connections among the Leucadia, Cardiff and downtown Encinitas areas.

Organizers have said recently that the project is a decade or more in the making.

The pilot project is forecast to cost $27,900. Ticket sales will cover part of that expense; the rest is being covered by grants and sponsorships, Kirpalani said.

Grants came from the city of Encinitas, the Mizel Family Foundation and San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.

Sponsors include MiraCosta College, Yogi's Bar & Grill, Pacific Station, Auggie's House of Crab and Steele Realty.

Organizers hope that up to 150 people a day will ride the bus, which will make 11 stops as it cruises the highway route.

Tickets can be bought on the bus, or at the Leucadia 101 Main Street office, 386 N. Coast Highway 101; the Downtown Encinitas Main Street office, 818 S. Coast Highway 101; or the Cardiff 101 Chamber office, 124 Aberdeen in Cardiff.

For a route map and other information, visit: www.leucadia101.com.