Tampa, as has been well chronicled, has had to shut down its electric-cart operators. To be sure, the city didn’t need this. Especially with a downtown that’s still amenity challenged, pedestrian averse and sans realistic taxi alternatives. Especially during a recession.
Especially with the county, hardly a municipal soul mate of the city, playing a role.
The Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, which includes both county commissioners and city council members, had an opportunity to help out downtown on the electric-cart issue. It needed to be reasonable, and it needed to be creative. It was neither. It couldn’t reach a sensible consensus on what, if anything, to do about those open-air, shuttle rides around downtown and the tourist-oriented Channel District. So the county PTC pulled the plug after cab attorneys called the carts unsafe and unfair competition.
This should never have been a zero-sum matter. Sure, the carts had been unregulated. They didn’t charge fares. But that was a technicality. They made money on ads, and tips were expected. They should have been regulated – with assurances of safety and insurance required. It wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker. It remains eminently doable.
Since the county has no formal category for electric carts — and there were no more taxi licenses — the smart move would have been to, well, create a hybrid category. The carts had been a welcome addition to downtown. They had responded to an obvious need. That’s the way the marketplace is supposed to work.
The PTC response to the cab companies should have been something other than acquiescence. The only reason there were electric carts transporting visitors and workers around downtown in the first place was because such mini-hauls were a viable, however narrow, niche – one conspicuously unserved by taxis.