Street legal golf carts coming to two Allegheny County communities

SEWICKLEY, Pa. — In the next few weeks, if you’re in Sewickley or Edgeworth, you’re going to start seeing people driving around golf carts.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Joe Dorko. “It’s novel. We’re not doing it anywhere else in the City of Pittsburgh.”

“It’s small,” said Mary Bonar. “It’s earth-friendly, and you can scoot around town.”

Typically, you think of golf carts cruising around warm-weather cities. Not places that average more than 300 cloudy days a year.

“You think about golf carts being on an island or beach town or something like that,” said Lauren Pentland. “Sewickley has that small-town vibe just without the beach. I think it’s a fun new element to add.”

“We were down visiting some relatives down in Alabama, and they drive them down in Alabama,” said Dorko. “Yeah, I think it’s a great idea. Made their town really attractive.”

Matthew Simmons and his wife created Village Buggy. They live in the Village of Sewickley and wanted to buy a golf cart for their family to get around town.

“Traditional golf carts, of course, are not allowed on the streets in Pennsylvania, but these are classified as Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, which means on roads up to 25 miles per hour you can have them on the road.”

To sell them, they had to become a licensed car dealership. They’ve already sold about 20. They range in price from $9,000-15,000, and drivers must follow all PA traffic laws, such as wearing a seat belt and not driving under the influence.

“You have to be licensed,” said Simmons. “You have to be sober. You have to have it registered. You have to get it inspected every year. It’s no different than driving a traditional car.”

But no gas is needed. They’re fully electric and plug into a simple 110 outlet. On a full charge, you can travel about 30 miles. And you just park them in normal parking spots and feed the meter.

“The one benefit that we see for the Village is you can actually fit more than one of these in some spots depending on the model,” said Simmons. “And the way the parking is set up where you’re paying per license plate, it could actually increase revenue.”

“It makes our town even more unique,” said Mary Bonar.

“I’m excited for them,” said Pentland. “I think it’s going to be really cool.”

Simmons says other communities have contacted him expressing interest in Village Buggy. He says they’re just focusing on the Sewickley, Edgeworth area right now, but they are exploring offering a taxi-like service through Village Buggy.

“We have flirted with the idea of having someone on the Village Buggy staff driving this around in the sense of a taxi service,” said Simmons. “Giving people rides back to Edgeworth or up to the Heights. So we’ll see.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Dorko. “Anything to get you up and down the street quicker and easier, particularly since my wife can load all the goods that she buys in the back of it. I think it’s a great idea.”

“We’re excited,” said Simmons. “To be able to wake up on a Sunday morning in Sewickley Village. The drive may be from Edgeworth to the farmer’s market. Get a few things. Grab breakfast and drive back is awesome. As much as we love walking, and Sewickley is an active community. There are a lot of people especially if you’re doing shopping in town that that walk back is quite a hike, and I think a golf cart is ideal for that.”

Simmons says they do all the necessary paperwork such as registration, the license plate and the first inspection. The only thing the customer has to take care of is insurance.

Village Sewickley also offers a payment plan.

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