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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 4, 2011 at 4:11am

With the cost of lightweight motorized transportation coming down we are going to see much more of this.  Not so much the segways, but motorized bicycles that look no different to the average person.  Some of the newer hub motors are not much larger than a hefty IGH with integrated drum brake or Dynohub with a brake.  The batteries are getting smaller too so that they can just about disappear on the bike.

 

These will be everywhere soon and so far I've not seen much talk about what is to be done, if anything, about shared bike/walk/run/skate areas like LFP.  The segway thing is a no-brainer in comparison and even THEY are getting away with it seemingly. I think this is a battle that will end up  not being winnable in the end.  Eventually all your motor will belong to us and there will end up being more electric-motorized vehicles in the bike lanes and bike trails than human-powered.  

 

We are talking about the least common denominator and the buying public is going to go for a power-assist vehicle over a human-powered one every time if the price is right (this is why the segway never really took off -OMG expensive.)  When an electric bike is the price of a current walmart bike and a good bike-shop human-powered bike costs even more and is WORK to ride the end results of what local transportation is going to look like are pretty much already written in stone. 

 

Regression to the mean.  Cars are going to slowly go away as the energy cost to operate them becomes too much and small electric bikes are going to be everywhere instead. 

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Permalink Reply by David on June 4, 2011 at 4:39am

I'm curious, where were they exactly?

 

I know this isn't the rule, but I think that in reality there is no bike path between Ohio Beach and Wacker. It's just a mess there, but there's no good alternatives for anybody until the flyover gets built, and tourists need to go between Grant Park and Navy Pier somehow. Segways between Ohio Beach and Oak don't really bother me much either, since there's so much room there. 

 

Segway tours outside of those areas would be a real hazard, but taking a "live and let live" attitude inside the tourist red zone seems reasonable to me.

 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 4, 2011 at 4:49am

This.

 

Also, in much of the lakefront there is a LOT of space that could be devoted to different uses.  High-volume high-speed bike highways could be possible in many places while in some pinch points we are all just going to have to share some pretty expensive real estate and "live and let live."

David said:

 

Segway tours outside of those areas would be a real hazard, but taking a "live and let live" attitude inside the tourist red zone seems reasonable to me.

 

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Permalink Reply by djm on June 4, 2011 at 7:16am

Segway went to great lengths to ensure that their vehicles would not restricted due to legal restrictions on motorized vehicles.  According to their website

As of July 2008, 43 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation to allow use of Segway PTs on sidewalks, bike paths, and certain roads.

 In Illinois, the vehicle code was amended to define "Electric personal assistive mobility devices" and give them the same standing as pedestrians:

Sec. 11-1005.1. Electric personal assistive mobility devices. Every person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device upon a sidewalk or roadway has all the rights and is subject to all the duties applicable to a pedestrian.

I wouldnt be surprised to see the manufacturers of other "electric mobility devices" seek similar status.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on June 4, 2011 at 1:01pm

I think the electric bike vs. regular bike war is silly. In the end it's not a car and uses much less energy. To me that's a win.

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