On the edge of Piazza Navona, one of the grandest squares in central Rome, Barry and Linda, visitors from Texas in the US, stepped out of a golf cart.
asserted
Barry → step → cart
They planned to cross the square on foot, perhaps stopping to admire Lorenzo Bernini’s 17th-century Fountain of the Four Rivers, before being picked up by their driver at the opposite end.
asserted
They → plan → end
The couple had already done a walking tour on day one of their trip, and had been so exasperated by a stifling three-hour shuffle along a corridor towards the Sistine Chapel on day two that by the third day they wanted to give their tired feet a rest.
asserted
they → do → rest
“When I first heard you could do golf cart tours in Rome, I thought to myself: that sounds a little weird,” said Barry.
uncertain
Barry → hear → myself
“But then we decided to try it out.”
asserted
we → decide → it
He said the most enjoyable thing about the experience was “feeling the breeze”.
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thing → say → breeze
Rome is a difficult city to navigate, noted Linda, especially its ancient narrow streets in the centre.
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Linda → navigate → centre
“There are no sidewalks,” she said.
asserted
she → be → ?
“Our feet were hurting and we needed a break.”
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we → hurt → break
For visitors, golf cart tours offer respite from the heat, crowds and cobbles.
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tours → offer → heat
For residents, however, their proliferation in recent years has become another source of frustration in a city already wrestling with traffic and overtourism.
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proliferation → become → traffic
Taxi drivers are especially incensed, accusing golf cart operators of stealing their business, while one local newspaper said the city had been “taken hostage” by the vehicles.
asserted
city → accuse → vehicles
Now Rome authorities are cracking down on the burgeoning trade.
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authorities → crack → trade
Police intensified checks this week after the news agency Adnkronos reported that 90% of the roughly 500 golf carts circulating in the city were operating without authorisation.
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% → intensify → authorisation
In recent days, police stopped 131 carts around Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Circo Massimo and the Spanish Steps, issuing €38,000 of fines for offences ranging from unlicensed driving to illegal parking.
asserted
police → stop → parking
Rome’s leaders are pushing for regionwide measures to properly regulate an activity that “risks spiralling out of control”, Eugenio Patanè, a councillor for mobility, told the news agency Adnkronos.
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Patanè → push → agency
Prices vary based on the type of tour and duration, but the cost per person can start at €100 and exceed €400 for a half-day trip.
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cost → vary → trip
Barry and Linda paid €310 for their three-hour ride.
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Barry → pay → ride
,” said Barry.
asserted
Barry → say → ?
Julius Caesar tried to tackle the issue more than 2,000 years ago by banning private vehicles and commercial carts from the city’s streets during the day.
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Caesar → try → day
Today, pedestrians, cars, scooters, delivery vans and the occasional rogue horse-drawn carriage all jostle for space.
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pedestrians → draw → space
Tourists can also take tours in Fiat 500s, on Vespas with sidecars, and even in tuk-tuks.
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Tourists → take → tuks
But the golf carts seem to have drawn a special kind of wrath.
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carts → seem → wrath
“There are too many of them,” said Nora Fahmi, who works at Trevimage, an art photography shop behind the Pantheon.
asserted
who → be → Pantheon
“We’ve had this shop for 13 years and have seen all sorts of things, but the golf cart situation is kind of wild.”
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situation → have → things
Nearby, two teenagers from Israel were taking a rest on a parked cart.
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teenagers → take → cart
“We just want a lift to the Colosseum but you have to book online,” said their mother, Miri.
asserted
mother → want → Colosseum
“Rome is too crowded and it’s difficult to walk.”
asserted
it → ’ → ?
Elisa Isacco, who lives in the Monti area, spares no sympathy for the weary tourists.
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who → live → tourists
“What do they actually see or learn about Rome when they are on one of these things?” she said.
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she → see → things
“I find myself having to dodge them all the time – Rome is chaotic, it’s like a jungle
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it → find → jungle
Amid the clampdown, several golf cart tour operators have banned staff from speaking to the press.
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operators → ban → press
But Leo Pavoncello, a driver for an operator in the Jewish Ghetto area, was happy to publicly defend the trade.
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Pavoncello → defend → trade
“Golf carts are silent and eco-friendly,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
“Rome is not an easy city to visit but these vehicles allow people with disabilities and families with children to see the sites in a comfortable way.
asserted
people → visit → way
On top of that, they provide jobs for young people.”
asserted
they → provide → people
Pavoncello, who was subjected to the police checks and was found to be operating fully legitimately, argued that a few rotten apples were giving the business a bad name.
asserted
apples → subject → name
“I don’t understand why they are targeting us,” he said, although he suspects “taxi lobbies” are piling on the pressure.
asserted
lobbies → understand → pressure
The Aporia
