Downtown Tampa has electric scooters, bikes, and trams. Is your golf cart ready?

TAMPA. There are so many ways to get around downtown Tampa these days: stroll along the waterfront, ride bikes and electric scooters, take a water taxi, ride the free trams, or ride a vintage car.
Channelside golf cart rental recently opened on the edge of downtown Tampa’s fast-growing Water Street neighborhood, and has already become a mainstay in neighborhoods from downtown Sun City to the Davis Islands – locals can see professional residents working around them – athletes.
The rental business is owned by Ethan Luster, who also builds golf carts in Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, Indian Rocks Beach and Dunedin. Luster lives nearby on Harbor Island, where—yes—he owns a golf cart.
A small fleet of eight 4-passenger petrol carts rented from a parking lot at 369 S 12th St. opposite the Florida Aquarium, is legal and equipped with the necessary lights, turn signals and other equipment. They can be driven on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.
“You can take it to Armature Works,” Luster, 26, said. “You can take it to Hyde Park, too.”
As expected, the reaction, especially from those who support alternative forms of road transport, has been enthusiastic.
Kimberly Curtis, chairman of the Straits District Community Renewal District, said she recently noticed golf carts on nearby streets but thought they were on private property.
“I approve of it,” she said. “If they’re not on bike paths, river walks, and sidewalks, this is a good option.”
Ashley Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Tampa Partnership, agrees: “We’re working with any micromobility option to get cars off the road,” she said.
“I would personally support as many different modes of mobility as we can think of,” said Karen Kress, director of transportation and planning partnerships, a non-profit organization that manages downtown through an agreement with the city. .
Some alternative ways to get around the city center that have emerged in recent years are bike rentals, electric scooters, two-wheeled, motorized, stand-up segway tours, pirate water taxis and other boats on the Hillsborough River, and regular rickshaw rides. cycle rickshaws can be found between the city center and Ybor City. A two-hour city tour is also available on a golf cart.
“It’s about having another way to get around Tampa,” said Brandi Miklus, city infrastructure and transportation program coordinator. “Just make it a safer and more enjoyable place to travel.”
No one is required to sell Tampa resident Abby Ahern on a golf cart, and she is a commercial real estate agent: she drives her electric car from blocks north of downtown to work on the Davis Islands, south of downtown. Eating and her son’s baseball training .
A new downtown rental business requires drivers to be at least 25 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Trolley rentals are $35/hour and $25/hour for two or more hours. A full day costs $225.
Luster said the summer months have been a little slow so far, but he expects the pace to pick up as news breaks.