San Francisco, one of the first cities to ban Segways on sidewalks, will
now be among the first to have tours on the human transporters. San Francisco
Electric Tour Co. will offer three-hour guided tours — using the bike
paths along the waterfront — on the self-balancing gizmos, starting
Nov. 15.
Although the Segway is capable of navigating San Francisco's challenging
hills, the tours will stay in the relatively flat neighborhood around the
marina, with stops at Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, the Maritime
Museum, Ft. Mason, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Marina Green and the Ferry
Building.
"It's not a thrill ride," said company owner (and chief battery
charger) Brian Huber. "You can go up the hills with them; it's just that
you're using a lot of battery power." When brakes are applied, as when
going downhill, the battery gets charged. Though a Segway can move as fast
as 12 mph, the devices have speed-limiting devices. Riders will start off
at 6 mph and accelerate to 8 mph halfway through the tour.
Glide the Waterfront and be a Star About Guide Rating "*****"
Five Stars!
About San Francisco 01/20/05 By
James Martin
Want to have your picture snapped by leg-weary tourists as you glide effortlessly
up San Francisco's legendary hills perched on a high-tech, self-balancing,
gyroscopic wonder called a Segway? Want to be a hero to your whining teenagers
tired of art museums and fancy food? Take a San Francisco Electric Tour Company
Segway Tour. You won't regret it, nor will your kids (must be 12 or older).
And if you could charge for each picture taken of you on your Segway, you'd
be rich.
How San Francisco Electric Tour Company Segway Tours Work
When you first show up at the tour's headquarters, you'll sign some papers
and then get some serious safety and operational training on your Segway.
After ten or fifteen minutes, you'll be gliding around like you owned the
place. See, the Segway moves forward and back by responding to simple body
movements; lean forward and the machine glides that direction, lean back on
your heels a bit and the thing slows to a halt. Keep leaning and it'll back
up for you. You steer by turning a knob with your left hand.
Yes, it's that simple. All you need to do is train your mind a bit. That's
what the training session is for. Keep in mind that so far everyone taking
a San Francisco tour has mastered the Segway. Yes, it's likely you can do
it, even if President Bush couldn't.
So, what's it like on a Segway Tour of San Francisco?
For the first half of the tour you'll start your Segway with a key that limits
the Segway to 4 miles per hour, like a brisk walk. You get to wear a helmet
and one of those spiffy florescent green vests like construction workers wear.
Your guide will lead you through some pretty heavy wharf traffic (it's illegal
in San Francisco to ride on the sidewalks with a Segway and a good thing considered
they're usually clogged with gawking tourists!)
“Be prepared to become a tourist attraction in and of yourself,"
Two years after the space-age two-wheeler was introduced, Segway HT s are
as rare a sight as solar-powered cars. That's changing in cities from Paris
to Vancouver, Canada, where the $3,000-plus vehicles have found one enthusiastic
cohort: tourists. An HT rental can help travelers get closer to the sights
than a bus would, while sparing the fatigue of a walking tour. The novelty
of riding the hipster vehicle is an added bonus--and burden.
We wear bright bicycle helmets. No Segway-related fatalities have been reported,
but Mebane says there have been some spills. Another precaution: A color-coded
ignition key locks our speed at less than the 12.5-mph, red-key max. We roll
down the pedestrian-clogged Pennsylvania Avenue using the black key that sets
a 6-mph maximum.
I'm thankful we have a guide. Negotiating curb cuts and crossing busy streets
require skill and nerve. Gawking pedestrians, choppy sidewalk, and--in security-conscious
Washington--concrete barriers are everywhere. We were allowed to ride in high-security
areas, such as outside the White House. An added bonus: You can see over other
tourists.
LOS ANGELES — For years, people have ventured to the City
of Angels for a glimpse of a celebrity and a splash in the Pacific Ocean.
Increasingly, they can do it all in unique style on a Segway
Human Transporter — the self-balancing electric-powered transportation
device introduced in 2001 as the invention that would transform everyday life.
Los Angeles is the latest city to climb aboard the fast-growing phenomenon
of Segway touring, with two tour companies. Segway Los Angeles began its "California
Dreamin' " guided tours along the Santa Monica and Venice Beach shoreline
this summer. The company plans to offer a downtown L.A. route soon. Competitor
SegWow has taken riders on excursions to stars' homes, the Hollywood sign,
Marina del Rey harbor and Santa Monica beach since 2003.
City Segway Tours claims to have introduced the original "glided tour"
in Paris in 2003. Since then, sightseeing alfresco via the funny-looking contraptions
has taken off in more than two dozen U.S. cities, from the hills of San
Francisco to the monuments of Washington, D.C. Tours range from $10 to
$89.
Even across the Atlantic, Segway tours have changed the way people experience
Europe in such places as Prague and Vienna. "You see things you don't
see from a car," says Segway Los Angeles president and tour guide Jason
Stemmler, 29, explaining the appeal for both first-time visitors and longtime
locals.
"It's combining sightseeing with (new) technology." For the exercise-challenged,
these tours offer a brief respite from hoofing it; they're essentially non-walking
walking tours. In good climates, they offer visitors the added benefit of
being outdoors, which on nice days beats a cramped tour bus by a long shot.
(Though a Segway tour in the rain or snow is no day at the beach.)
Segway Los Angeles arranges private tours, limiting each to 10 people to
ensure personal interaction with the guide, who points out locales seen on
the silver screen, such as the basketball court where White Men Can't Jump
was filmed or the carousel at the Santa Monica Pier that Paul Newman operated
in The Sting.
All gliders must first watch a brief but jarring safety video, which details
the ways a careless rider could take a tumble: curbs, slippery surfaces and
steep slopes. "I'm a little scared now that I see this," Billy Eddy
says. But he recants before he steps aboard.
Eddy and Jason Graham, both 30 and screenwriters in Los Angeles, decided
to take a Segway tour after seeing Will Arnett's Southern California adventures
on a Segway in the television series Arrested Development.
Segway tour operators say Segways are safe, and most outfits include instructional
briefings and training before the tours begin. Almost all Segway accidents
are minor. Eddy, for instance, rolls away unscratched after unintentionally
driving off the bike path onto the sand, causing his wheels to lose traction
and his Segway to tip.
In fact, Eddy joins a large club of those who have fallen unharmed from the
machines, including George W. Bush (who reportedly did not receive pre-ride
training). Though some tour operators impose restrictions based on age or
height, most go by weight: Riders must weigh more than 100 pounds and less
than 260. "We haven't had to turn anyone away so far," Stemmler
says. Still, some are hesitant to jump on at first.
"People think they cannot ride a Segway," says Washington-based
Segs in the City owner Bill Main. "After five minutes, they're whizzing
by you." Many senior citizens in particular have taken to the easy-to-use
transportation devices. "We've had a 92-year-old guy go out with us who
had two surgically replaced knees, and he was dynamite. He had an absolute
blast," says Carl Natenstebt, owner of SegCity, which conducts tours
in Austin and San Antonio.
Wherever you ride, and whatever your age, you're sure to be noticed. On this
day, a stream of Segways heading down the California coast turns more heads
than the bikini-clad sunbathers. People smile, point and giggle at the sighting.
Some take photographs or video.
"It's so funny. It's so unusual," says Dee Villacrez, 47, an equities
trader from Santa Monica, on the beach to decompress. "I love it."
So does Skip Allen, who splits his time as an occupational therapy assistant
and as co-head of Segway Solution in North Wildwood, N.J.: "This is what
I do for fun."
San Francisco: San Francisco Electric Tour Company (877-474-3130; sfelectrictour.com),
There are a lot of ways to see San Francisco but this is one that I highly
recommend!
IneTours.com 01/25/05 by Lee W. Nelson
When I learned that a company was planning to provide San Francisco
Tours utilizing the Segway, I was anxious to experience what I had heard so
much about. This is the story of my experience.
The tour begins with 20–30 minutes of training on riding the Segway.
It's very easy to ride and we all caught on right away. The machine really
does soon feel like a natural extension of your body. Well before the end
of the three hour tour controlling the Segway had become completely automatic,
requiring virtually no thought.
When the Segway is powered up it automatically balances itself. A few minutes
after you begin riding it you are totally comfortable standing on the two
wheeled machine. Unlike a bicycle it does not have to be moving to balance.
San Francisco Electric Tours stresses safety and made sure that everyone could
automatically stop on a dime. This is important because pedestrians have a
tendency to not notice that you're on a vehicle and will step in front of
you. Helmets and vests are provided and required though your chances of falling
down are probably much higher on foot than while riding a Segway. Our tour
through Fisherman's wharf began and we proceeded to our first stop near the
Fisherman's and Seamen's Chapel where Carla shared some information on the
Chapel, the wharf and San Francisco's fishing fleet.
There are a lot of ways to see San Francisco but this is one
that I highly recommend! Like a walking tour you are at street level where
you can take in all the smells, sights and sounds but you're able to cover
a lot more territory. Riding the Segway is a lot of fun and an experience
you won't forget.
Nós testamos: passeio de Segway às margens da Baía de São Francisco
Nelson Miler, do O Globo Online
Quem andou lendo o Blog de Bordo recentemente sabe, estive em São Francisco para participar de uma conferência da Intel . E aproveitei para passear por alguns pontos turísticos da cidade nas horas vagas. Porém, uma tarefa era extremamente importante para este jornalista amador aqui, pedido da editoria de Viagem do Globo Online: fazer o tour de segway pelo Fisherman's Wharf: o cais e principal ponto turístico da cidade.
Para quem não está ligando o nome ao equipamento, este é a tal máquina que ia "revolucionar" o transporte pessoal, mas cujo maior feito até agora é ter derrubado o presidente do EUA, George Bush, numa tentativa frustrada de usá-lo em seu rancho, no Texas. Confesso que não sou exatamente fã do cara, mas ainda assim estava um pouco receoso acerca de minhas habilidades para pilotar a máquina.
How to Make a Business Trip into a Family Vacation
Elaine Glusac Parents.com
Are you or your husband heading to one of these top convention cities? Let the kids tag along -- and turn work into a mini family vacation.
With its zigzagging avenues, funky neighborhoods, and colorful street performers, eclectic San Francisco buzzes with excitement.
Sights to see: Start your tour by driving down one of San Fran's famous byways, either Lombard Street, with its hairpin turns, or Filbert Street, where stairways ascend to hidden houses, lush gardens, and wild parrots. For a new twist on sightseeing, try a Segway tour; a guide will narrate the city's history while you twist and turn through the streets on an electric scooter (electrictourcompany.com, $70). Fisherman's Wharf is worth a stop, but skip the arcade and wax museum and head to the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, where antique schooners, tugs, and square riggers -- many of which you can board -- line the pier.
Ruma Kumar |Baltimore Sun reporter September 17, 2007
Segways have become an increasingly popular option for tourists who want an up-close look at historic landmarks without breaking a sweat. Segs in the City offers tours in Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington and Gettysburg, Pa.
Since the machines made their debut in 2001, more than 200 Segway tours have cropped up across the U.S., Europe and Asia, according to SegwayGuidedTours.com, an online directory that tracks the emerging market.
Known as "a clean, green, eco-friendly machine," this two-wheeled, electric, short-distance transportation alternative is zero-emissions during operation, allowing you to actually take it indoors if and when you choose. Although the Segway PT does draw power from the electrical grid during recharge, that electricity results in fourteen times less greenhouse gas emissions than driving your car the same distance. After one year on your Segway PT you would have literally saved a ton of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere…now that's green.
Not clearly understood by the public when it was first released, the Segway PT is eleven times more efficient than the average American car, and over three times more efficient than even the highest-mileage scooters. With this type of gasoline savings, the learning curve for public awareness regarding the Segway PT is rapidly changing as prices continue rising at the pump. Pressing the point even more powerfully: if 10% of the 900 million short car trips of three miles or less was replaced with a Segway PT, 6.2 million gallons of gas would be saved and 286 million fewer pounds of CO2 would be emitted everyday.
The Electric Tour Company is a private company and is in no way connected with Segway, LLC .
Segway is a registered trademark of Segway LLC in the United States and other countries.
See the sights on a Segway 'glided tour'
