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0 sats \ 4 replies \ @grayruby 5 Jan \ on: Cars vs. Bikes - Both Sides Are Wrong culture
Who is going to use a golf cart?
Let’s take Toronto for example since we both know it well.
You have people that commute to downtown daily to work from all areas of the city, surrounding GTA and beyond. They aren’t using golf carts.
You have people who live downtown and walk to work or ride a few stops on the subway. They aren’t using a golf cart.
You have people who bike to work. They aren’t using a golf cart unless it is bad weather at which point they probably take the subway.
Where I could see something like this being feasible is some sort of golf cart downtown taxi service, likely eventually autonomous.
Golf carts are illegal on Ontario streets, that's what is holding all this back. I think people living in the city that commute downtown would prefer something like a golf cart (GTA people won't, since they need to use the highway).
I'd happily switch from driving to a golf cart for daily commutes and groceries. All my driving trips in the city take 20-30 minutes, and they'd basically take the same amount of time on a bike or in a golf cart. The top speed isn't the constraint, it's the city traffic that slows down commuters.
I recognize that for almost all of my city travels, a car is overkill. I almost never fill all the seats with passengers, I never get anywhere close to my car's top speed, and I never fill it to the brim with cargo.
But for all the reasons mentioned above, I'm not willing to invest in a bike and use it on my daily commutes either. A golf cart would be just as fast, cost way less, let me bring passengers, and would be much safer to use than a bike.
And if manufacturers put even an ounce of energy into golf cart innovation (which won't happen until they are legal), you could imagine all the top-tier audio systems, cutting-edge battery packs, heated seats, even leather interiors being ported over from cars to golf carts.
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I am all for legalizing them and finding out.
But I am skeptical that there is much of a market for this unless it is some sort of downtown golf cart robotaxi service.
Cities are shitcoins KR. Free yourself and enjoy your car. Move to a small town and you can walk and bike everywhere. I rarely drive.
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