Segs in the City

Segways are not as easy to ride as you might think...

Are Segways another example of a technology "solution" in search of a problem to solve? Bikes provide a lot more mobility and cost about $4,000 less (especially if you buy used). Bikes actually provide an opportunity to exercise, and in comparison are easier to store.

Yesterday's Post, in "Gliding Roughshod Over Convention: Policymakers Wonder What to Do About Regulating Travel by Segway," discusses the Segway in the context of DC, and how local policy makers are considering it. I don't see Segways that often, yet, but I do see them. For information on Nightime tours of Washington, DC by Segway, click here.

According to the article:

Particular attention is being paid to the way Washington handles this. Not only is the nation's capital seen as the ideal Segway city, because of its open spaces and sidewalks with ample ramps, but it is also host to the national Segway convention this fall. "Nationally, a lot of people are looking to see what we're going to do," said Metro Transit Police Chief Polly Hanson, who made clear her distaste for Segways at a recent meeting during which she urged that the transit system impose a rush-hour ban on them.

As silent herds of tourists mounted on the machines glide through popular vacation spots and handfuls of commuters float past walkers, city and state lawmakers are stitching together a patchwork of laws and codes without knowing quite what they're dealing with.

"It really is an emerging technology, and there's no federal code or law that talks about Segways," said Alexa Viets, the National Park Service's transportation manager for the Mall, where Segways have been banned pending further review. "A lot of people are trying to figure it out."

I vote "no." What do you think?

Last week, the New York Times also had an article about Segways, "In Halls of Albany, a Decidedly Unsqueaky Pair of Wheels Get the Grease," focusing on the lobbying campaign in Albany for favorable lawmaking.

Segway in the City. Mario Tama, Getty Images.