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The Segway and related products have the potential to make a car-free environment a reality for more people by bridging mass transit gaps between the home and one's final destination. Why didn't New Urbanists embrace this and similar technologies?
The Segway and related products have the potential to make a car-free environment a reality for more people by bridging mass transit gaps between the home and one's final destination. Why didn't New Urbanists embrace this and similar technologies?
How do you mean "embrace" it. I see people taking Segway tours of our city all the time, so I guess it's a useful way to get around in a walkable environment, but I haven't seen a general consumer use it for transportation or anything and I suspect it's either because they're too pricey, there are substitutes readily available at much cheaper prices (e.g. the bike) or perhaps there's some stigma about the things.
The Segway and related products have the potential to make a car-free environment a reality for more people by bridging mass transit gaps between the home and one's final destination. Why didn't New Urbanists embrace this and similar technologies?
A segway is more expensive than a used car, you cannot lock it up outside like a bike, you cannot leave it in a parking lot like a car...there isn't much that is attractive about it.
Motorized personal transport like scooters and power wheelchairs are good for disabled people and if your local buses are handcap accessible with ramps, they can come on the bus. Segways seem primarilly to be marketed at the able bodied, and the able bodied generally seem to choose cheaper, faster alternatives like bikes. I don't think it would be right for an able bodied person to use up a spot reserved for the handicapped with a segway.
Yes, Segway's have no market niche. Maybe for overweight mall cops. They're vastly inferior to other modes of transportation.
Walking:
+ Better Exercise
+ Can navigate stairs.
+ Much Cheaper.
+ No risk of theft.
+ Can use public transportation.
+ Can use private transportation or cabs.
+ Can carry an umbrella.
+ Can navigate better over snow and ice.
+ Can step around deep puddles.
+ Can navigate broken roadways.
+ Can navigate in heavy pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
- Slower than riding a Segway.
Bicycling:
+ Better Exercise
+ Much Cheaper.
+ Lower risk of theft.
+ Can use some public transportation.
+ Can use some private transportation or cabs.
+ Can carry bicycle on stairs/around deep puddles/over broken roadways.
+ Can navigate in heavy pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
+ Faster than riding a Segway.
Never seen transit that allows Segways on it... bicycles are difficult enough to use in conjunction with transit. Reminds me of a recent Top Gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson proposes a design based off of the Peel P50. Good episode.
The Segway and related products have the potential to make a car-free environment a reality for more people by bridging mass transit gaps between the home and one's final destination. Why didn't New Urbanists embrace this and similar technologies?
Dean Kamen had a vision for a clean vehicle designed to work within the constraints of existing infrastructure. He envisioned people leaving their home on their Segway, rolling onto a bus or train and then continuing on to the office. It was designed to go through a standard doorway and to be used on a sidewalk.
It does have built in security and a means to lock it to a rack. The primary purpose was to extend the walkability range to reduce driving.
It seems like instead of applauding inventors who are trying to find solutions to our environmental challenges more people find greater satisfaction in celebrating their failures even though these solutions are necessary for our future prosperity.
Other countries are capitalizing on the advantages of finding solutions to our environmental and societal challenges and will have a leg up when the problems become apparent to the masses.
It seems like instead of applauding inventors who are trying to find solutions to our environmental challenges more people find greater satisfaction in celebrating their failures even though these solutions are necessary for our future prosperity.
Well, when a good solution comes up, we'll celebrate it.
The Segway is not it, for reasons stated above.
If you have a better idea, by all means share it with the class.
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