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Slow-moving vehicles pitched for rural roads

SCRD

The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) transportation committee recently heard a pitch for allowing slow-moving vehicles on Sunshine Coast rural roads.

Lesley Roberts told SCRD committee members that slow-moving electrical vehicles such as golf carts “would be a viable option for elders and an alternative to gas powered vehicles.” Roberts said it’s difficult for some people to access the transit line. “Why not allow people to use slow-moving EVs [electrical vehicles] to get to the bus stop?” she asked.

She pointed to two different communities in B.C. that are currently part of a provincial pilot project testing slow-moving electrical vehicles – the village of Chase and Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.

West Howe Sound director Ian Winn said he saw “some interesting opportunities” in the proposal, but added the community of Chase and the Sunshine Coast are not comparable.

“It’s a very different community. It’s flat and has 2,500 people,” Winn said, pointing out that there are clear sight lines along roadways because the land is flat. He told the committee members that his daughter lives in Chase and he has witnessed, first hand, the slow-moving vehicles on the road.

“It works well in Chase and there may be some places here it could work, but we would have to identify those specific places.”

He also pointed out that most of the golf carts in Chase are accessing the road to the golf course, and that the carts do slow traffic because they don’t pull over to allow traffic to pass.

The Sunshine Coast RCMP representative on the committee, Sgt. Mike Hacker, said roads on the Coast “are congested right now and people are in a big hurry to get somewhere. I’m not sure we have the capacity or the infrastructure to absorb another type of transportation on roadways.”

Hacker said public safety would be a concern and that he would not be in favour of slow-moving vehicles. He said there is already a safety concern with scooters on sidewalks, but being on the roads would present a bigger problem.

Don Legault of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said both communities that are currently running the pilot projects were able to allow the slow vehicles through zoning bylaws, which do not require legislative changes.

“I don’t see it,” Legault said. “We would have to reduce the speed limit on all the roads and I don’t see that as an option. Even if we were to allow it on side roads there would need to be legislative changes” because the SCRD doesn’t have jurisdiction over local roads.

Pender Harbour director Frank Mauro said while he knows the need exists for some people with mobility issues to have scooters, he sees many people using scooters to run their dogs.

“Lets see what [information] the pilot projects bring; sometimes being the leading edge is not a good idea,” Mauro said, adding that once the pilot projects are finished there will be data that can be studied to inform future decisions about slow-moving vehicles.