Maine City: Golf Cart ‘Taxi’ Must Be Licensed, Carry Insurance

The City Council in Maine’s largest city has effectively put the kibosh on a young man’s golf cart transportation service on Peaks Island.

Nineteen-year-old Matt Rand has offered rides in his golf cart in exchange for tips from people getting off the Peaks Island ferry. But the Portland City Council voted 5-3 Monday to require golf carts to be licensed as taxis and to carry insurance like any taxi operator.

Rand says he doesn’t make enough money to pay for insurance, which can cost $5,000 a year.

The Portland Press Herald says the Peaks Island Transportation System, a nonprofit group that used $20,000 in city money to buy a van, asked for the change because Rand was taking away business.