GolfCarts @ Sept9 StudySession

[Hooper, Joan]

Dear influencers:

As an Ex-TAB member who has put some thought into golf carts on multimodal paths, here is a thought for something to try.

The safety issue is that golf carts can be a hazard for fast-moving cyclists coming in the opposite direction; or annoying for pedestrians who may feel crowded off the path. We already have posted “dismount zones” in places where there is too much conflict between different transport modes (e.g. George Hix plaza. How about:

1. posting the (few-and-far-between) golf-cart zones  with “warning: golf carts” signs,
2. having clear rules that golf carts should yield to pedestrians or cyclists, including that violators could be fined or lose the privilege of using the multimodal paths and
3. a process where multimodal path user complaints that document failure to yield (everybody carries cell phones and shoots videos) can lead to suspension of those golf cart privileges.

This works as long as there are only a few golf carts in a few spots, and gets around the thorny issue of motorized (e.g. electric scooters and ebikes) vs non-motorized vehicles on multimodal paths.

Respectfully yours,

Joan hooper

[Gary Hall]

Thanks, Joan, timely. Good to hear from you. We have a lot of enforcement challenges to solve with the motorized scooters and bicycles, we've started some conversations and there will be more. But yes, the interaction between golf carts and those often way-too-fast micro e-vehicles is yet another dimension of the burgeoning issue with those two- (or one-) wheeled zipsters.

Gary M. Hall

Mayor of the Town of Estes Park

Office phone: 970-577-3706

Email: gh...@estes.org