City Council Green Lights UPS Mail Golf Carts
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Some neighborhoods in Golden will no longer be seeing those familiar brown UPS trucks this holiday season.
Instead -- holiday packages could be delivered by golf cart.
Golden City Council members unanimously approved the trial program Thursday night making them the first in Colorado to try the carts.
Captain Joe Harvey and the Golden Police Department were key in getting the pilot program rolling.
"It looks just like a gas powered golf cart, used in a lot of different environments," Harvey said.
The National Retail Federation predicts holiday sales to grow by four percent in 2017 meaning more deliveries than ever before.
Captain Harvey says the department backed the idea with safety in mind.
"I think it increases public safety, if we could just think of a kid who darts out behind a UPS truck, and somebody coming up the street in the other direction might not see that child, a pet or an animal, a golf cart is much smaller," Harvey said.
The pilot program will run through the month of December under certain restrictions.
The carts with trailers in tow will be used only on residential streets with a 25 mph speed limit and drivers have to be wearing in full UPS uniforms.
"I think it's great," one resident said after dealing with big trucks on the city's narrow streets for years. "The golf cart sounds really nice because they would be able to maneuver easy."
For some, the only concern was the Colorado cold.
"Sometimes the wind can be strong and the rain and stuff," one resident laughed.
The golf cart drivers will stay in their designated neighborhoods and will pick up packages for their area from a UPS truck that comes to them.
Which neighborhoods will see the carts in use have yet to be decided.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.