07 February 2008
Source: Surveyor (The weekly magazine for those involved in or with the local government technical professions. <strong>Surveyor</strong> contains the latest news and in-depth feature articles on highways, traffic & transportation, road safety, planning, waste management, environmental control and much more. It also contains the leading recruitment advertising section in the industry.)

GLA leader makes personal appeal for electric transporter trial


Greater London Authority should offer a site for a major public trial of the Segway ‘personal transporter’ (PT), the authority’s Conservative leader said this week.

Richard Barnes was demonstrating the US-developed, electric-powered ‘stand-on-and-go’ device at London’s City Hall. He launched a campaign to win it approval as part of the transport mix from the Department for Transport, which currently restricts its use to private land.

A single 0.8kW charge from a domestic socket allows it a range of up to 34km at speeds of up to 20km/h, giving high ‘green’ credentials for short journeys. The Police Federation of England and Wales backs it to speed up patrolling.

Sutton (Greater London) police ran a 2007 public trial which the DfT halted, citing safety reasons. Police have said they would not prosecute for public use of the PT, which falls outside existing vehicle categories. One solution could be to seek approval for its electronic braking system.

The company is hoping for an end-March tally of 100 MPs’ signatures on an early day motion, sponsored by Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, Paul Rowen, followed by a private member’s Bill. It may also target the devolved Scottish and Welsh governments. PTs are approved for public use in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.



Your comments

Test drove one of these when I was on holiday in florida last year. It would get my car of the road for 10 mike round trip every day. I would cycle but since there are no changing facilities at my work, it would mean sitting in a sweaty shirt all day, at least with the segway you would be smart when you arrive at work.

DJL, Added: Monday, 21 July 2008 09:48 PM

It's about time the Government actually took action on green transport rather than just talked about it, and paying lip service. The Segway is in use on a daily basis by many thousands of people worldwide without any problems to riders, pedestrians or other road/pavement users.

Nick Thurston, Managing Director, Southern Segway, Added: Friday, 29 February 2008 10:25 AM

With the recent announcement of how we should be trying to reduce our carbon footprint, and a country with one of the greatest road congestion and public transport and overcrowding problems in the world the government should be showing their commitment to green solutions and be undertaking an analysis into the safest way to adopt this environmentally machine.

Jeff Lawrence SSW, Added: Thursday, 28 February 2008 11:49 PM



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