Coming to a park near you? Photo by sandxr via flickr.
Two Segway entrepreneurs have their sights on Yosemite and Sequoia national parks as the next frontier for these two-wheeled contraptions. Steve Steinberg and Darren Romar, who operate Segway of Oakland, want to offer fleets of these "human transporters" to the two parks.
"We want to expand rental operations into the U.S. National Park Service, and we're ready to take on bigger things like Yosemite," Mr. Steinberg said in a PR release. "Our goal is to work out partnerships where we supply Segway units to start your own turnkey operation, and support for when you are running the operation. We are already looking into a partnership with a concessionaire and we are excited about the Parks. We can only take on so many locations, but right now we're looking for good partnerships"
Of course, the rhetorical question is whether Yosemite and Sequoia and other national parks need Segways tooling around their roads? Another question is why the National Park Service would want to invite Segways into the parks?
It wasn't too long ago that former NPS Director Fran Mainella was touting the healthy benefits of recreation in the parks. It was back in June of 2006 when Ms. Mainella talked about the Park Service's efforts to "advance the physical and mental health of the American public by encouraging additional, appropriate physical activity during visits to national park units."
Riding a Segway around a park doesn't exactly seem terribly physical.
Beyond that, can anyone demonstrate a need to do away with the traditional ranger-led tour of a park? Or are we to assume that rangers will continue to lead tours, but only involving herds of Segwayians? Of course, the savvy Segway fleet owner could equip his units with "electronic rangers" and do away with the living and breathing ranger entirely.
Seriously, though, do we really need to add to the congestion that already exists in Yosemite Valley, where cars, hikers, joggers, cyclists and regular pedestrians already eat up most of the available ground space? Should the Park Service be advocating against walking and hiking? Should the agency be encouraging younger generations to avoid using their feet to explore the parks?
In their drive to "take on" the national parks, will Messieurs Steinberg and Romar lobby to see that Segways gain access to paved trails? And if that's accomplished, will they then outfit Segways with more rugged, knobby tires to conquer hiking trails?
Perhaps there are places in the national park system where Segways make sense, but I hope the Park Service doesn't believe Yosemite, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and the other 54 "national parks" are among them.
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Comments
thanks to all you haters out there who have no understanding of what is it like to spend and active life then be house bound by bad knees or hips, heart conditions, diabetes or other things that keep you out of the out of doors. Keep up your elitist demands that nothing disturb your purity of walking. We vote too. And many of you will realize that one day you will not be able to do what you once could do. You will wish a thousand times that you had a seqway to allow you to get out. I have never seen so much hate in my life. This is a country that is supposed to be willing to help those who are older or disabled. We aren't idiots you know, we can control a segway down to a crawl if we need to. What is wrong with you people.
This really isn't about the use of the Segway for those with mobility problems. The discussion is about using them as organized "tourist vehicles" as seen in some places, with a guiding permit for the company. It sort of looks like a motorized mule train. If you notice - some of them even have deep treads designed for off-pavement use.
I recall senior citizen organizations in San Francisco were requesting a ban of them on sidewalks because they were fearful that people tooling down the sideway at 8 MPH could very well run into those with mobility difficulties (on foot or wheelchair).
As it is now, motorized scooters are allowed on paved areas.
Again - the question at hand is whether or not the NPS is going to issue commercial use permits to Segway-based tour operators. We're not talking about one or two mobility-impaired Segway operators on their own, but large groups of people (most who can likely walk well enough on their own) riding these things on organized tours. I understand that there are heartfelt sentiments about how Segways have aided those with difficulties walking, but that's irrelevant to the question at hand. I would imagine that the NPS or individual park superintendents could allow the use of Segways by those with documented mobility problems, but not give a commercial tour operator permission to use them as part of a concession.
I live close to San Francisco and have seen a lot of these kinds of tour activities. This seems more to me like an organized sideshow like those go-kart style electric cars where the driver and passenger are wearing helmets.
I'm planning a Yosemite trip with my family. My parents are getting up there in age and my mom has gout. For her, walking long distances really does hurt. A lot. Imagine wanting to exercise, but feeling pins and needles on your knees every time you step down. It's not necessarily fat and lazy people who will use these devices. Think of people who have: gout, a limp, on crutches, anemic, or any other condition.
PS: For those of you who think we should get a segway for her, it's not like we do these trips often enough so that buying one is practical. Plus flying/shipping it may not be feasable as well.
If I could hope to go to My Grand Canyon, Like all other Americans, Ill want to be able to go to the bottom on the trail, like everyone else. Trouble is, I have a disability that I know prevents that dream. Ill never see the bottom or feel the power of the river by being close to it. A segway could make that possible. Im just saying,to be fair, and maybe help parks prosper and serve all, Make it as excessable as possible Special swgway trails and assisted transport would generate the money for the improvments if managed properly. We are Americans, We share our parks. Get over the idea we are still loosing the battle. America as a whole learned, and made the adjustment needed to "Save ore parks" now lets really make them accessable to all. i believe in US, with great design and inoative ideas we can give all the means of enjoying the trails and views all Americans have a right to.
My take on Segways and their use. I’m disabled would like to be able to experience our national parks like able bodied people. I was a passenger in an airplane crash adn broke my neck and back. Reading some of the comments apparently if you're disabled, you're also fat and lazy. That's kind of thinking is just dumb. No, the disabled are just like the rest of America. Some are fat, some are skinny, some are lazy and some are nuts about keeping in shape. But here's the deal, sometimes people are injured or get sick and lose some or all of their mobility. Sometimes lose limbs. Speaking for myself, I was in pretty good shape until I was injured. My X2 Segway gave me back a little of what I'd lost.
Stopping the disabled from enjoying our national parks is not just wrong; it’s kicking a person when they're down.
To the people with bad knees: get a wheelchair! I have bad knees and would rather ride a bike, particularly in wilderness, but I can't. Segways are not street legal, so no roads, and they take up too much room on the trails, which were not designed for them.
Now if you want to use the Honda U3X, that might be ok, as it does not take up too much room
The majority of comments I see here are consistent with what I would’ve written prior to 2001. That was the year I was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor. I had surgery to remove the tumor in September 2001. My life hasn’t been the same since. I can walk short distances with a walker or canes. By not allowing me access to the Park, and I mean access equal to able bodied visitors, you are on equal footing with those small minded bigots who sought to keep minorities as second class citizen. There are mobility devices out there that allow me (almost) full access. There are all terrain Segways with amazing potential. They can navigate modera inclines and run on dirt and gravel trails. Not all people seeking to ride Segways are fat and lazy.
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