Residents in smaller communities may be able to use golf carts to get around town.
Currently, the provincial government us working with the Town of Coaldale on a pilot program that will allow for limited use of golf carts in their community.
Through this program, municipalities will be granted the flexibility to adopt different transportation modes, which will help to reduce congestion, improve the quality of life for residents, as well as enhance the mobility of residents and increase recreational options.
Any other community that is interested in the program is invited to submit a bylaw proposal to Transportation and Economic Corridors to get their own pilot project off the ground.
"Transportation does not stand still, and Alberta must be ready with forward-thinking ideas on how to test new transportation-related solutions or activities," the Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshen, said in a recent media release. "Off-highway vehicles (OHVs) and e-bikes have been popular with Albertans for years, and pilot projects like this one hold the key to unlocking new modes of transportation for everyone."
Coaldale is currently one of the first towns in Alberta to pilot this program and give residents a limited use of golf carts in town, and their pilot program will last five years.
The Traffic Safety Act Pilot Project was passed in May 2024, and this allowed the government to create a pilot project regulation that allows golf carts on select public roads, which overrides sections of the Traffic Safety Act, the Vehicle Equipment Regulation, Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation, and Operator Licensing and Vehicle Control Regulation.
While golf carts meet the definition of and named as a miniature motor vehicle under the Operator Licensing and Vehicle Control Regulation, but under that regulation, miniature vehicles are not allowed to be registered as a motor vehicle.
This pilot project, and ones like it, allow for new and innovative uses of existing or new modes of transportation, and allows municipalities to expand their ability to register off-highway vehicles for operation on their roads.
"The creation of this pilot project comes as welcome news to the Town of Coaldale. Thanks to Alberta’s government our Council will be able to pass a golf cart bylaw that gives residents living near our local golf course the ability to drive their carts to and from the course," Jack Van Rijn, the Mayor of Coaldale said in the media release. "It’s a win for everyone involved -- Coaldale residents, municipal enforcement officers, our local golf course, Coaldale Town Council and the Government of Alberta."
Currently, six other communities in Alberta have applied for, and been approved to use golf carts in their communities, including the County of Lacombe and the Village of Linden.
These pilot programs will help to inform future policy decision for similar transportation technology.
This is on top of the recently expanded use of OHVs on Highway 734 near Red Deer.
There are already three jurisdictions in Canada that have provisions in their legislation that addresses the use of golf carts on select municipal road, and they are B.C., Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
To read more about this pilot program and to learn how to apply, click here.
