June 24, 2008
Bart/Muni Bans Segways
What with gas prices soaring, Segways -- those two-wheeled, self-balancing, electric scooter-ish type vehicles -- have seen a boom in sales recently. One Segway sales person in Oakland have seen sales triple over the last three months. This is fantastic news in that people really are trying to live a car-free life.
But the 100-pound heavy machines have been (rightfully) banned on Muni and Bart. (Santa Clara County, though, allows the vehicles on buses the drivers' discretion.) Perhaps if Muni created some sort of exterior storage doohickey, a la the front-loaded device buses have for bicycles -- then we can see Segways being allowed on buses. But Bart? No. (Has anyone seen one on a Bart train? Because that is a some gall.) After all, it would be lovely to see more of these things out there, especially if public transit could accommodate them, but we don't see that happening anytime in the near future.
Aaanwyay, as of now there are estimated to be around 3,000 Segways in the Bay Area. Hey, riders, tell us what it's like to ride one of these contraptions around the city, will you? Is it worth the price? Do people in passing cars make fun of you? Can we drive to Palo Alto in one? Will this happen if we ride one? Please advise.
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Best Segway moment ever: I'm riding my bike down Folsom in the bike lane and I'm approaching a Segway rider in front of me. There is also a Muni Bus getting ready to stop at a bus stop. Being a mildly-experienced bicyclist I know the safe move is to check over my shoulder and pass the Muni bus on the left hand side (to avoid the opening doors & exiting passengers) before returning to my proper place in the bike lane. Segway rider d00d - maybe he is entranced by his magical ride, maybe he didn't notice the bus, maybe he's just dense - but he passes the bus on the right side and, sure enough, the doors open and the monday morning commuters pour out the door right in front of him. He can't adjust in time and spills into a parked car. Good thing he had a helmet. Segways in bike lanes - lettuce discuss.
i always thought segways were welcomed there. interesting. are they the boogie boarders of the bike lane?
Those things are retarded. of course, they ARE from Seattle, so what else could they be? one time I was riding my bike up Market Street towards the Castro and some asshole comes whizzing by on one of those inane contraptions. He's like right there in the bike lane! He was like some bizarre professor type in a tan blazer with elbow patches and a waxed mustache ala Chicken John. There oughta be a law against post-modern eccentric types hogging the bike lanes with their ridiculous Segway devices. The Segway rider has no respect for cyclists. They should be banned from city streets immediately.
A Segway ban is retarded. Although they are quite heavy, and even though they have a stairway-assist mode and can clog up a stair way, you can take the elevator. Plenty of bicyclists clog up up the escalators and stairs at rush hour when they're not even supposed to be in the station.
All you bicyclists complaining about Segways, if you stop getting on crowded BART trains at rush hour when you're not even supposed to be on trains in the first place, then I'll listen to your spoiled bratty bitching.
While the city made it illegal to ride it on sidewalks, it is considered legal to ride in bike lanes, city streets, and those "multipurpose" pathways (that permits bike riding).
And how can you hog a bike lane? It only fits one person, and a Segway fits into that lane. So what do you want, to hog and entire driving lane?
FWIW - I'm not against Segways in the bike lane. They have wheels, they aren't powered by fossil fuels - seems like the right place to me. I am glad they aren't allowed in GG Park - but that is a different story.
I just shared the above story because I found it amusing. Much more amusing than Wsanders whining about "spoiled bratty bitching" - someone get him a cookie, STAT.
Why are they banning a Segway which takes about the same space on the train as large rolling suitcases that tons of people take to the airport on Bart?
Also Dean Kamen and the Segway company are based in New Hampshire not Seattle.
I'm betting BART doesn't want to get into trouble for a person riding a segway in the station and falling into the tracks.
Caltrain bans anyone from riding a bike, scooter, and rollerblades at their platforms. Shit, there's one guy on youtube who thinks it is his civil right as a disabled person to rollerblade at a caltrain platform.
I can't imagine riding a Segway with a straight face post-Arrested Development. It's the pocket-protector of transportation.
My parents were in town this weekend and they are about the most unashamed touristy tourists in the world. However, they still laughed uncontrollably at the line of 20 people on a guided Seqway tour rolling by in helmets and orange safety vests.
"Also Dean Kamen and the Segway company are based in New Hampshire not Seattle."
Ptsch! Same difference. Nothing but NIMBY libertarian whiners in either place.
The thing that makes the segway retarded is that people aren't using it for street transportation like a bike, but more generally using it to go places where a normal human being would walk to. That is what makes these people hilarious. It is the ultimate in laziness.
Sales tripling over the past three months means he's sold three of them lately, right?
The only thing lamer than the bicycle cop is the Segway security guard.
Dean Kamen should have devoted his inventive powers toward creating an operational replica of Marty McFly's levitating skateboard. That would be so sweet...and BART-escalator-legal.
I'm betting the bart ban is due to height - people bangin into doors and hand rails, etc.
On muni? That's just too ridiculous to consider.
Has anyone seen the Segway Tours that leave Fisherman's Wharf? Basically it's 10 or 15 Segways in a line, all wearing bright yellow jackets. Does anyone have pictures of this marvelous happening?
fizzandpop:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1098/721893175_65e7e59124.jpg?v=0
all the other comments: tl;dr. a couple i skimmed mentioned the whole segways-in-the-bike-lane issue: that wouldn't be if the city/state hadn't banned them from sidewalks.
in DC, they have (enforced) speed limits for the things, works out great.
and as far as banned from bart/muni? ridiculous. they'd take up less room than bikes on bart...
and i can't find the great picture I took last summer of a bunch of job bluth clones rolling past the maritime museum, but i'll keep looking...
here they are: http://flickr.com/photos/frijole/623784840/
Tres amusement: I saw someone rolling down Main this morning on one. Doing a pretty good clip, too, comparable to a skateborder on the jazz. How well do these things stop?
remember when is was called the Ginger?
snicker.
I've rented them a few times. Segways stop in an instant, enough to make the tires leave skid marks. travin has a point - height is an issue. Although the most common way to wipe out is to hang a wheel up on a curb or pole, since the wheels stick out about 6 inches wider than your shoulders. I could also see whacking a pedestrian that way of you're not careful. Which is shy riding them in the bike line is OK.
They don't belong on MUNI, there's just not enough room on the bus and I don't think it'd be a good use of money to retrofit buses with carriers for them either.
I think they should be allowed on BART during off-peak hours though, they aren't that big.
Although banning something as expensive as a Segway isn't going to cut out a lot of commuters, I still think it is important for trains, light rail, and buses to enable intermodal transport as much as possible. We need to make it easier and more convenient for people to leave their cars behind.
The funny thing about when this SFist report appeared is that it was not too long after my first and only Segway-on-BART sighting to date.
It's all in the way you look at it.
If the Platform is controlled by the rider, there are less issues about the safty.
As Segways go, there may be problems when the riders forget the platform is thinking for them.
It seem to me, if there is something that will allow commuting and do it safe, more importantly, do it FUN, we as Americans would be more likley to use it.
I saw this video on Youtube,
search "VLEV"
I guess it stands for Very Light Electric Vehicle, which looks like a solution to the problem.
It's more like a bike than anything, but acts like a Surfboard.
www.zuumer.com
BTW, Segway may have it's issues, but the inventor, Dean Kamen is a great inventor that has done some wonderful things with other inventions He has created