CHICAGO – Dean Kamen, inventor of the gyroscopically correct Segway transportation device, is seeking cities to be guinea pigs. Chicago has proven ideal, ePrairie has learned.

The self-balancing device is designed for quick, short-distance travel – a few miles per charge – making motoring around downtown Chicago an ideal candidate. But before consumers have a chance to decide whether the pricey luxury is affordable, the city has to sign off on them first.

To do so, Segway has engaged the city of Chicago with a three-month leasing arrangement for six Segways, which typically cost about $5,000 each. Chris O'Brien, chief information office for the city of Chicago, says the arrangement is "pretty favorable because they really wanted us to be using them."

Segway spokeswoman Carla Vallone says the city is leasing the devices to evaluate their performance patrolling security at Midway and O’Hare airports, by the Chicago Department of Transportation, by the Chicago Police downtown in the loop, by the Chicago Water Department for campus navigation, and by the Chicago Department of Revenue for ticketing cars.

While some city employees fear losing their jobs due to budget cuts and feel that buying Segways would be "wasting $5,000 a pop on scooters" as one employee put it, O'Brien says the city is experiencing mixed reviews.

"It takes some time to learn how to lean and get use to the control. It's hard to think of standing up and moving at a good rate of speed with it feeling natural," O'Brien said. "It's different than a scooter or a bike. You don't fall over and it seems fairly awkward at first, but it's actually very connected to body movement and weight shifting."

While holding a handle bar with controls and security at the top, the idea is to put both of your feet on a small platform the size of your feet and just scoot around by moving your body where you want to go.

O'Brien says the police have taken off in their use of technology over the last couple years and the mayor "really is trying to pilot small things like this. He's always looking to be on the cutting edge." He adds that the police are a good example of the device's practical application because they use several forms of transportation aside from cars, including bikes and horses.

O'Brien also says the long corridors at airports would make the device a natural fit. Segways could be efficient for use in large, indoor spaces where cars can't go, he added, and they can maneuver around such spaces faster than by foot. But as for the price, O'Brien says he's not sure to what extent the city would purchase many of them beyond the trial program.

"This is why we only have a small number of them. They're not cheap," O’Brien said. "I'm optimistic that they can provide a targeted benefit, but of our 15,000 police officers, we could make sure that they're being used by the right 1 percent."

While he says the trials are "going well," he questions whether they warrant a longer-term relationship and if the cost of purchasing them is outweighed by the benefits they can provide. In terms of opening them up to consumers and signing into law the right to do so, O'Brien says that freedom would have to be tightly controlled.

"There are implications any time something like this comes around. Rollerblading, scooters or skateboards may have more benefits than detriments, but we have to make sure to maintain the flow of traffic while keeping pedestrians safe," O'Brien said. "We have to make sure people aren't running over people or blocking traffic. We're not in any way ready to make a statement about how that should play out."

Though O'Brien says he hasn't noticed many cities taking a stand on Segways to this point, earlier this month, California passed a law to use Segways in certain conditions. Such a law is still pending in Illinois.

Segway is a trademark of Segway LLC in the United States and in other countries.

By Adam Fendelman, Editor-in-Chief
Reporters Beat: Telecom