An Oliver resident has requested that Town Council enact a bylaw to allow the operation of low speed electric cars on municipal streets.
Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEV). Vehicles that can travel up to 40km/h. Golf carts do not quality. Pictured here is a NZEV from wikipedia. 
The cars must be licensed and insured. The top speed is on a level surface not on hills.
Council is being asked to:
a. not consider the request -
b. put it on the priority list in 2013 -
c. put on list immediately and consult ICBC and the highways ministry -
I dont like this idea. i dont want my tax dollars put towards these special routes for scooters and golf carts. People have screamed at my own kids for riding b ikes on sidewalks. Better use of money should to go towards programs that enhance our community which take care of concerns we all care about (like social health for those who could not DREAM to own a golf cart or scooter because they are in poverty) , so this is something we put our money towards?
If trucks an hyway traffic, etc have to deal with motorcycles, bikes, scooters, skateboarders, wheelchairs, walkers, dogs, rollerblades and those who walk or run – (skip a rope). What difference would it make to throw a “licensed properly” legally lit golf cart in the mix? I drove one in Arizona the system seems to work well there… mind you the streets are alot wider!
Good idea. But I do think it is time we considered golf carts within the Town boundary as well. I believe Phoenix, AZ leads the way in this “green” form of local transportation.
We would certainly have to have all golf carts “road worthy” – lights, signals, brake lights, horns, speed governors etc. But they now exist as options. Also registration and insurance.
Bike lanes can be used without having to build new ones.
Has this ever been raised at Council? –
Publisher: Not that I remember. The chamber of commerce broached the idea several years ago suggesting golf carts as clean and quite transportation. Problems: the interaction between cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks, bikes, scooters, skateboarders, wheelchairs, walkers, dogs, rollerblades and those who walk or run – (skip a rope).
My answer – plan a route that cars are not allowed to travel on. One road from mountain to main street – cross the river to another street that allows no parking but divides roads into narrow controlled streets. That plan needs to allow residents to gain access to other roadways to move. Think of a route that starts at the top of School Avenue and winds down Earle Crescent to Bank Avenue across the river connecting to Tucelnuit area and Hospital/Rec Centre areas. A dream. Now plan how to move highway traffic around Main Street so that it can become a liveable viable area.