PDA

View Full Version : Advanced scooter arrives in area (Toledo)




Casey
09-28-2002, 06:00 PM
September 27, 2002 - Toledo Blade - Police Officer Jim Lopez can spin on a dime, patrol a parking lot without breaking a sweat, and draw "oohs" and "ahhs."Full Article (http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20020927&Category=NEWS11&ArtNo=109270068&Ref=AR)




Casey
09-28-2002, 06:25 PM
quote:Transportation |
Article published Friday, September 27, 2002

Advanced scooter arrives in area

Police Officer Jim Lopez can spin on a dime, patrol a parking lot without breaking a sweat, and draw "oohs" and "ahhs."

At least that's the case when he's on his new Segway.

Officer Lopez, of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority police, was among the first crew of northwest Ohioans to get a Segway Human Transporter, the high-tech scooters that its inventors have dubbed the next generation in transportation.

Twenty models arrived last week for a two-month trial run. The port authority helped organize the test, and its board yesterday voted unanimously to pay the scooter makers, Segway, $21,500 to lease the models and an additional $6,500 for training.

The lease equates to about $540 a month per model.

Port authority officers, like Mr. Lopez, will use them to patrol Toledo Express Airport. ParkSmart employees will ride them while checking downtown meters. Some electric meters on area homes will be checked by Toledo Edison meter readers scooting on them. And Toledo Zoo patrons may see zoo employees carting concessions around the grounds on them.

Agency officials have pushed for Toledo to become a "pilot city" for the Segways in an effort to project an image of Toledo on the cutting-edge of transportation technology. The agency worked with UT's Intermodal Transportation Institute to bring the Segways to Toledo.

They're hoping the byproduct will be new jobs - either directly, by New Hampshire-based Segway putting a factory or warehouse here, or indirectly by showing out-of-town logistics companies that Toledo embraces such innovation.

Perhaps the area - as it develops knowledge on the scooters' kinks - can partner with Segway to develop future generations of transporters, said Dr. Mark Vonderembse, the institute's interim director.

"We want to create an environment that is not only friendly to transportation technology, but has a track record of being successful to help deploy and ultimately develop transportation technology," he said.

The port authority is hoping to recoup some of the money from the agencies getting the devices, although there are no specific deals cut yet, said Robert Greenlease, the agency's director of surface transportation and logistics.

If the port authority or the other groups want to keep the industrial-sized Segways, nearly all the lease fees, and some of the training fees, will be deducted from the purchase prices, which range from $6,500 to $8,500. The consumer-sized models are expected to fetch $3,000 to $5,000 each when they go on sale next year.

Segways have not been without controversy. Some safety advocates question whether the devices will run over pedestrians on sidewalks.

Officer Lopez said he has had no trouble with pedestrians - except they want to constantly stop him and talk about the device. At the airport's air show earlier this month, he said that the featured pilots - the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels - joked that he was getting more attention.

He wishes the batteries lasted longer than the 1 1/2 to 2 hours, during heavy usage. And he said that he still prefers a mountain bike over a Segway for most police situations.

But he said the devices have a place in law enforcement, particularly in doing less intense patrolling and interacting with the public. "You can get closer to the community, and you've still got your hands and arms free," he said. quote:WHO GETS 'EM
Where the 20 Segways in this area are going:
Port authority - 3
TMACOG - 2
ParkSmart - 4
Kwik Park - 1
Toledo Zoo - 3
Toledo Edison - 3
Metroparks - 1
UT - 2
BGSU - 1
Source: Port authority, the University of Toledo