Golf cart-like ride service offers sneak peek of service in downtown Dayton

GEST Dayton, a new electric cart ride service, offered free rides in downtown Dayton during Art in the City on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

GEST Dayton, a new electric cart ride service, offered free rides in downtown Dayton during Art in the City on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

Electric vehicles similar to a souped-up, covered golf cart zipped around downtown Dayton this past weekend offering residents and visitors a free taste of a new “micro transit” ride service.

A couple of GEST carts offered people free rides during the Art in the City event in downtown on Saturday afternoon.

GEST Dayton, a new electric cart ride service, offered free rides in downtown Dayton during Art in the City on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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Tom Conroy, a longtime local resident, is launching a new transportation service to give people another option to get around the greater downtown area.

GEST Dayton has a couple of electric carts that can seat a small handful of people.

GEST launched in Cincinnati in early 2018 and has started service in multiple cities across the nation, including Detroit, Louisville, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Chicago.

GEST Dayton, a new electric cart ride service, offered free rides in downtown Dayton during Art in the City on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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Conroy last spring said that the new cart shuttle service would help people explore Dayton. He said he expected the service would operate on Friday and Saturday nights, possibly between the hours of 5-11 p.m.

He said the carts likely would travel around downtown and the area near the University of Dayton campus. The carts would not go on roads with speed limits above 35 mph.

Earlier this year, Conroy said the rides could cost about $4 to $6 for the first person in the party, with lower rates for additional riders in the same group.

GEST Dayton, a new electric cart ride service, offered free rides in downtown Dayton during Art in the City on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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