Getting whale watching tourists to spend money in Langley this spring will cost the city some money.

All because of an uphill battle against gravity.

The oversized electric golf cart used to transport visitors from South Whidbey Port up the steep incline to Langley shops and restaurants just didn’t have the “umph” to get up the hill anymore.

An alternative was quickly needed when it became apparent “the cart was not going to do the job anymore,” Igne Morascini of the Langley Chamber of Commerce said at a Monday city council meeting.

The cart, which fits five passengers, is owned by the Main Street Association. It’s used during tourist season to give visitors “hop on, hop off” free lifts around Langley.

The past two years, it’s also ferried passengers from the San Juan Clipper when the whale watching boat made its two-hour stop on the weekend during March and April.

Of the 200 passengers, about 15 percent require some sort of transportation because of disabilities or age. Some use large battery-powered wheelchairs which do not collapse and couldn’t be carried by the cart.

Morascini quickly worked out a deal with Sea-Tac Shuttle to provide the service for $150 a day.

“Which is fairly reasonable because they’re here from about 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,” she said.

Providing the shuttle service through April 21 will cost the city $1,694. The amount was approved by the city council after a discussion about seeking a longer-term solution.

The Sea-Tac Shuttle van was successfully used last Saturday and Sunday for the first time. On Saturday, three shuttle loads got 40 people to town, some with walkers and wheelchairs, said volunteer Fred Lundahl. Of the 150 boat passengers Sunday, 25 needed a lift.

“It’s not as though you’d be inconveniencing just grandma if there was no shuttle,” Lundahl pointed out. “It’s a whole family that travels with them.”

Igne Morascini with the Langley Chamber of Commerce requests funding from the city council to use Sea-Tac Shuttle vans to transport whale watching boat passengers.