Cities’ Choice: Make Way, or Do Away With Segways

While gliding down Orange Grove Boulevard on what looks like a large push lawnmower, Joseph Chiu makes riding the Segway look easy.

But watching him leave his Pasadena home on the two-wheeled battery-operated vehicle is like watching an ice skater do a pirouette on asphalt.

In an electric dance of loops and spins, the 32-year-old computer engineer smoothly maneuvers his way through the front door and glides down his driveway, past the 1992 Mitsubishi 3000 GT he rarely drives.

“It’s wonderful for people like me. I work and live in a small area,” he said. “It’s good here [in California], because it’s sunny.”

He and about 10 other local Segway owners -- some of whom meet occasionally to compare notes on their experiences and give curious onlookers demonstrations -- hail the new zero-emission transportation device as a technological and environmentally friendly advance in transportation.

But for others, the Segway, which can run up to 12 mph, is a potential hazard. Some cities have banned their use, while others are working on restrictions.

In simple terms, five gyroscopes sense which way the rider is leaning and signal two embedded computers that control the wheels. Leaning forward makes the device roll forward. Leaning back makes it roll back. Standing straight up brings it to a stop. Twisting the turning ring on the left handlebar makes it turn.

“It’s the first time there’s ever been digital transportation; it has a computer that senses what’s going on,” said Peter iNova, 59, a creative director for Metavision in Burbank. “I think it’s lived up to and exceeded expectations.”

Like some of the other local Segway owners, Chiu is not shy about familiarizing people with the device. He created a Web site promoting the Segway, www.pasadenasegway.com, where people can sign up for a free orientation. INova and other owners glide around fish-finned custom automobiles at Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake during the classic car shows on Fridays and show anyone who’s willing how to ride the Segway.

The device was unveiled in December 2001 as the mysterious new creation of noted inventor Dean Kamen. For nearly a year, he kept people wondering about “Ginger,” the company’s internal code name for the invention.

It went on sale to the public in November 2002 for $4,950 on Amazon.com. The life expectancy is up to five years, and the Segway can run for 10 to 15 miles on a full charge.

Since getting his in March -- when the company began shipping them -- Chiu has received mixed reviews from pedestrians and drivers who see him on his daily 3 1/2-mile commute or running errands.

Some people are curious. Others think the gadget is meant to replace walking and call him lazy -- that one really gets to him.

“I’ll get that from people in their cars,” he said. “I’m at least standing up.”

“The lazy people it’s replacing are the ones that are sitting in their cars during those small trips,” said iNova. “Standing around isn’t the same amount of exercise as walking, but it’s not that far off. You can’t get on one of these things without doing some kind of exercise.”

iNova said the Segway would be good for people who now use walkers or crutches.

But there are those who believe the machine is dangerous. In the name of pedestrian safety, San Francisco and La Mirada have banned the vehicles on city sidewalks.

“Our sidewalks aren’t able to accommodate Segways and pedestrians,” La Mirada City Manager Andrea Travis said soon after the City Council enacted the ban. “There’s a potential conflict with pedestrians, because people aren’t able to move out of their way quick enough.”

Pasadena went from considering a total ban to reaching a compromise that would allow Segways on most of its streets. The City Council introduced an ordinance Monday asking that the police chief regulate Segways, primarily by establishing hours and locations of operation, said Pasadena Councilman Steve Haderlein.

The ordinance exempts individuals with handicapped placards.

“To me, the ordinance is a balanced approach that gives the police chief the ability to regulate the device in the name of safety but keeps the Segway viable to Pasadena residents seeking mobility options,” he said in an e-mail.

Some Segway owners believe that city officials are judging too quickly without really understanding the machine.

“I was taught at a very young age that you don’t say you don’t like asparagus unless you’ve tasted it,” said Donald LaFavor, a Segway owner from Tujunga.

LaFavor also attends the classic car show in Toluca Lake and said he has given about 500 demonstrations.

Although Chiu insists that people are used to seeing him on his Segway, which he refers to as his horseless chariot, people pointed and stared as he rode to work one recent day, a whiny whirring sound emanating from the spinning contraption.

A man entering a coffeehouse pointed and yelled, “Segway!”

People are less spellbound by the whirring gizmo at his workplace; more than half the people in the building have tried it. No one glances up as he makes his way on the device right to his desk.

Prasanna Adhikari, 33, a systems engineer who sits across from Chiu, admires the technology, but has his reservations about the device.

“The Segway itself is pretty cool, but I tell him it’s a little too big, too bulky for sidewalks,” he said. “It’s good for specialty use.”