Rome officials are moving, though in directions not entirely clear, to deal with issues of tourism, traffic and a recent ‘invasion’ of golf cart-like electric vehicles carrying visitors around the city’s historic core.
The carts, carrying as many as a dozen passengers, have been competing with tourist-agency vans, generating hostility between the two industries, while city officials are concerned not only with the unlicensed status of many carts, but also with congestion and pedestrian safety.
Many feel that police are taking sides, ticketing the carts and not vans that are parked illegally in the same area. The city lacks power to regulate some, but not all, the vehicles depending on type and registration and has asked the surrounding region to transfer regulatory power to the city.
Proponents of the carts and their operators point to quieter operation without adding pollution and taking up less space than vans, an argument that van operators say does not change the fact that there is no room for them.
