VAIL, Colo. — The core of Vail is often full of skiers and snowboarders walking to the slopes along narrow twisting cobblestone pathways.
Vail Police code enforcement officer Miguel Jauregui Casanueva says those pathways are shared with large semi-trucks making deliveries to local stores.
“You would see our guests bobbing and weaving these big semis,” said Casanueva. “It didn’t make for a great experience.”
Now the town is trying something a little different by using small, low-speed electric carts to get food, alcohol, and merchandise delivered to shops around the heart of Vail.
Those big trucks now head to a central loading dock to unload all their goods, which are then put on smaller electric carts and taken around town.
It’s a process former mayor and restaurant owner Dave Chapin says has been working very well.
“We’re taking these trucks off the street and idling for hours, and replacing them with electric vehicles,” said Chapin.
Semis used to sit idle for up to four hours while they were unloaded. Now, they park and are unloaded in 40 minutes before the electric carts take over.
The new program is also safer for the thousands of people walking through the core of town. It’s gotten a lot quieter too, with early morning deliveries noise complaints dropping.
“We used to get two or three a week and we haven’t had a single one this season,” said Casanueva.
The program's logistics are being run by 106West Logistics and has started to attract the attention of other resort communities looking to reduce the number of large semi-trucks in the heart of their towns.
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