Protests continue in Florence against ban on golf carts and rickshaws\u00a0as city enforces new rules.<\/p>\n
Tourist rickshaw and golf cart operators protested in Florence on Monday against a new bylaw prohibiting them from working in the UNESCO-listed historic centre of the Tuscan city.<\/p>\n
The ban, which affects golf buggies, rickshaws, tuktuks and “other atypical vehicles”, was announced in July<\/a> and\u00a0was met with protests when it came into force last Wednesday.<\/p>\n The rickshaw and golf buggy operators are demanding a review of the new rules, which they call “disproportionate and penalising”, amid plans to mount a legal challenge against the city, reports local newspaper La Nazione.<\/p>\n “The measure affects not only the golf cart category, but extends to all types of tourist transportation, resulting in the cessation of services that for years have contributed to making the city more accessible, livable and attractive to visitors”, the protesting drivers said, adding that the newly prohibited services\u00a0are also relied upon by\u00a0people with mobility difficulties and disabilities.<\/p>\n The\u00a0clampdown is an effort to\u00a0regulate Florence’s tourist transport sector which has seen “a proliferation of different types of vehicles in recent years”,\u00a0according to the city<\/a>, which\u00a0has allowed a maximum of 24 electric\u00a0vehicles to operate on two designated routes,\u00a0with pick-up and drop-off points in Piazza Ferrucci and Piazza Vittorio Veneto.<\/p>\n Florence\u00a0mobility councillor Andrea Giorgio said the ban was introduced\u00a0to tackle an\u00a0“unsustainable” situation, while tourism councillor Jacopo Vicini has described the move as key to\u00a0the city’s\u00a0“10 commandments for sustainable tourism<\/a>“.<\/p>\n Municipal police\u00a0can\u00a0seize a vehicle in violation of the new rules, while those with a permit but operating illegally will have their permit revoked and be handed a \u20ac500 fine.<\/p>\n Following\u00a0the protests on Monday, Florence’s centre-left mayor\u00a0Sara Funaro<\/a>\u00a0said the response to the clampdown has been “positive because it was what our citizens were waiting for: to have free, usable piazzas, used by pedestrians, by residents and by visitors”, adding: “We have no intention of reviewing our regulations”.<\/p>\n