Council May Buy Segway Scooter Fleet

Electric-powered gadgets have saved other cities thousands of dollars per year

By Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITER

SAN MATEO -- After once considering banning the Segway, San Mateo is now seeking state and federal grants to buy the high-tech devices. The City Council wants to snap up the new self-balancing, electric-powered scooters for community policing, traffic and code-enforcement officers, and other city uses.

The city of Seattle uses Segways for traffic enforcement, and has found that it's saving thousands of dollars a year, a Segway spokesman says.

"I see all kinds of use for us as a city, and for our own residents," Deputy Mayor Carole Groom said.

Following the Public Works Commission's lead, the City Council on Monday night decided not to regulate use of the Segway Human Transporter, and to allow them on public walkways.

The Council directed staff to monitor Segways as they begin to pop up on the Peninsula, and revisit the possibility of an ordinance when issues arise.

"It's academic, because no one owns it in San Mateo," Councilwoman Sue Lempert said. "As it becomes more plentiful...it could fulfill city objectives such as getting people out of their cars, downtown, and on public transit."

The Segway is the brainchild of medical and science inventor Dean Kamen, and became available to the public through Amazon.com March 1. The Segway can go up to 17 miles at a time, costs 8 cents a day to recharge, and can travel anywhere a person can walk, according to its sales literature.

Based on a robotic, standing wheelchair undergoing FDA approval, state law defines the Segway as an "electric personal assistive mobility device" and has classified it as a pedestrian vehicle under state law.

The same law also allows cities to regulate use of Segways in their own jurisdictions.

San Francisco has banned them from sidewalks, but San Mateo is embracing it as an eco-friendly alternative to the automobile, able to bridge that "last mile" between people's homes and public transit systems.

Council members told staff Monday to start looking for state and federal grants that could fund the purchase of Segways for the city. Segways cost $5,000 each, and the city is facing a budget deficit.

"The price is a little steep right now. We're waiting for it to go down a little," Mayor Claire Mack said.

Elsewhere on the Peninsula, San Carlos has said they can't be used downtown, and Belmont and Foster City are working to regulate usage by modifying their bicycle codes.

One member of the San Mateo City Council is concerned about the potential conflict between pedestrians and Segway riders.

Councilwoman Jan Epstein said she was worried people, particularly seniors, will get injured in a collision with someone riding the 84-pound device that can go up to 12 mph. She said she'd feel better about allowing Segways on sidewalks if the city required riders to carry insurance.

"I think our pedestrians deserve as much," Epstein said. Staff writer Malaika Fraley covers San Mateo. She can be reached at 348-4337 or by e-mail at mfraley@angnewspapers.com.