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To: Diddle E. Squat; nhoward14; Objective Reality; B Knotts
nhoward14: "The problem I see with the Segway is the speed. 17 mph is more than 5 times the normal walking speed of humans. ...I put Segways in a similar class to the bicycle."

Objective Reality: "I will go on-record as saying the Segway is a really bad idea, at least with regard to sidewalks.
So we wind up with Force = 116 * (20 squared) = 46400 Newtons, I think. What does that equal? A sledgehammer swung full-strength by a lumberjack?"

B Knotts: "We're going to have to rethink cities!"

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IF the Segway and other 'personal transporters' become prevalent, we will face a need to accommodate the class of transportation whose speed and mass falls between that of the auto and the pedestrian.

So, "We're going to have to rethink cities!"

But -- it has already been done!

Over twenty-five years ago, Taipei, Taiwan, established special travel lanes for the 'personal transport' class of vehicles, such as bicycles, motorized bikes, mopeds, etc. The rightmost (closest to the curb) lane in the street is striped off, clearly marked (with white diamonds) and is strictly reserved for 'bike/Segway class' of vehicles. IIRC, the lane (which is deliberately made too narrow for an auto) is called (pardon my poor phonetics here) something like "Matsu-Dao".

In the small photo above, you can see what would be the 'Segway lane' just to the right of the curb. (BTW, Taiwan traffic drives on the right, just as we do here in the U.S.)

TXnMA (No Longer!!!)

68 posted on 11/26/2002 8:42:32 PM PST by TXnMA
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To: TXnMA
Most W. Euro cities have these lanes too.
74 posted on 11/27/2002 12:19:26 AM PST by Stavka2
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To: TXnMA
same thing in the Netherlands, WRT to the dedicated bike lanes everywhere. Pretty cool to have the option of biking without putting your life on the line.
89 posted on 11/27/2002 8:56:13 AM PST by Semaphore Heathcliffe
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