This summer, Sprynt moved Arlington, Va., into a new category: a community with a street-legal electric golf-cart shuttle.
I missed Sprynt’s opening day on June 23, but my kids caught me up on the way to swim practice one morning a few weeks later. They said “Sprynt looks like a stretch-golf-cart. You’ll probably like it, ‘Mobility Mama’” and “I think it is a new ride-hailing service.”
They (my driver license-less 18-year-old and my car-obsessed 14-year-old) indulged me in a (very brief) mobility geek discussion about Via, Chariot, Lyft Line, and UberPool. We discussed the prospect of a ride-hailing service for teens who don’t drive, don’t want to drive, don’t have a car, and would rather ride than walk to school or vice versa.
The conversation closed when the maternal mobility module (also known as a minivan) pulled up at the neighborhood pool for 7 a.m. swim-team practice. One teen stopped long enough to say, “You could probably see one by Northside Social.” And the next day I did.
So, what is Sprynt?
Sprynt, now open for its sixth week, is a shuttle service that looks like a large, black electric golf cart that provides rides on-demand for free along Arlington’s bustling three-plus-mile Rossyln-Ballston corridor. Alex Villanueva, the founder and CEO of Sprynt, says the company focuses on trips that are too short to drive and too long to walk. Rather than collecting fares, Sprynt is using an entirely different business mode. According to the Washington Business Journal:
Businesses can run ads on iPads inside the vehicles or displayed outside. They can also advertise on the app, which is now available for iOS and will ultimately have an Android option. That provides a way for restaurants, gyms, and other businesses to offer coupons to Sprynt’s users.
At the moment, the service is only available to those over 18 and is not wheelchair accessible. A vehicle accommodates five passengers traveling together; Sprynt is working on its algorithms to accommodate shared rides and with its vehicle manufacturer to make the vehicles wheelchair accessible. And according to the Sprynt website’s FAQs, you can bring your dog with you. (My teens hardily approve of the dog part and encourage models that improve mobility for those who need it most.)
So, using Sprynt’s app, people can hail a ride beginning and ending in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in set service hours. iPhone users can download from the App Store now, but there is no Android app yet. The iPhone app works like other ridehailing applications. Enter pick up and destination, number of passengers, and request a ride. You will then be told your driver’s name and ETA.
Is it even legal to drive a golf cart like Sprynt on a public street?
Sprynt limits its operations to streets with posted speed limits of 25 miles per hour A low-speed vehicle (LSV) or neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) can operate on public streets as long as it complies with federal vehicle standards and state operating standards. The wording is a little convoluted, but such vehicles can travel at 25 miles per hour and are free to operate on streets with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or lower. This map from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety details operating requirements in Virginia and other states:
Virginia law also permits golf carts to cross roadways between parts of a golf course or to travel on a trail if authorized for motorized travel. Other communities have encourage NEVs or golf carts as transportation options. I cannot find another example of use of a golf cart as a shuttle, although there are plenty of shuttles to and from subway stations, airports, on campuses, and even at beaches.
What’s next for Sprynt?
For now, Sprynt reports that it plans to stay in Arlington, although there may be other good Washington D.C.-area candidates like Crystal City or Pentagon City, where connections to transit and around the neighborhood are vital. Or what about North Arlington neighborhoods where people are also looking for connections to businesses in the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor?
The demographic that Sprynt seems to be targeting are Millennials living in or coming to Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, and Ballston to eat, shop, and be merry.
How might such a service work well for older and younger riders who live in parts of Arlington where it is harder to connect to transit or to businesses in the RB corridor?
Also see Mobility Lab’s take on Sprynt when it launched in June.
Photo by Sprynt.