Golf carts: The new eco-friendly travel?
November 19, 2009 by JACOB DEMMITT
Filed under News
Planes, trains, automobiles . and golf carts?
As part of an ecology class project, Emily Breault, a sophomore from Peachtree City, made a video proposing to bring golf carts to campus as a form of environmentally- friendly transportation.
As Athens continues to grow, Breault, like many other students, has become concerned with the size of the city’s carbon footprint.
“The problem is within the last 30 or 40 years we’ve seen the construction of so many large apartments off campus,” said Mark Milby, a senior from Marietta and co-president of the Ecology Club. “So, in a way, we have created a commuting community.”
But to Breault, a resident of a golf cart community for 19 years, the solution was simple.
“In Peachtree City we use golf carts for fun to just ride around,” Breault said.
“A lot of people also drive them to school or work. Not only do they create less traffic, but they help the environment too. A lot of students in Athens drive scooters, so why not golf carts, too? We have over 30,000 students here, so I really think we could help the environment a lot.”
And though golf carts are not allowed to register for parking on campus at this time, Athens laws do allow them on the streets.
As long as they are equipped with basic safety features, such as headlights and turn signals, they are free to drive on any road without a minimum speed.
But University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said it is less a legal issue and more about safety.
“I understand from an ecology standpoint, it makes sense. But I would be concerned with the roads in Athens and the speeds we see people driving,” Williamson said. “I think mixing cars and golf carts would cause accidents.”
Although this may be one of the more original propositions to fix the commuting problem, it is far from the first, said Williamson.
“Scooters are just now starting to become popular,” he said, “but we are already seeing many issues with them. People assume they put out less bad emissions because they’re smaller, but they actually put out more than most SUVs.”
According to Milby, the solution to the greenhouse problem is going back to the basics.
“Riding bikes will be the easiest and most efficient way to help the environment,” Milby said.
“Athens is such a bike-able town. I just think we need to increase the number of bike lanes and get bikes to people who don’t already have them. This would encourage people to live closer to campus and seriously cut back on emissions.”
