Segways allowed on Caltrain for people with disabilities

From the San Mateo County Times in California:

Segway scooters will be allowed on Caltrain as long as they're ridden by disabled people, the rail agency's board ruled Nov. 6.

Caltrain directors unanimously agreed to allow Segways in order for the agency to comply with a 2005 U.S. Department of Transportation directive, which says the personal transporters must be allowed on public-transit systems when used by disabled people.

The policy change, which requires personal transport users to get permits from Caltrain, covers Segways and similar two-wheeled, gyroscopically stabilized products, technically known as "electric personal assistive mobility devices."

Without the change, Caltrain risked exposing itself to a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Chief Operating Officer Chuck Harvey.

"The DOT has opined that we must go beyond the ADA law and accommodate these additional vehicles, even though they are not wheelchairs," Harvey said.

Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said a disabled woman recently complained that she couldn't bring her Segway on the train, spurring officials to consider allowing them on board for the first time.

The Segway debuted in 2001 to enormous hype, with inventor Dean Kamen boasting to Time Magazine that it would become "to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy," but it has fallen short of those expectations. A government report from a 2006 recall showed 23,500 Segways had been sold at that point, though the company does not release detailed sales figures.

Personal-transport riders who are disabled and want to use Caltrain will first need to obtain permits by showing proof from doctors that they need to use the devices and by demonstrating they have basic control of them.

The devices will have to be stowed in wheelchair-accessible spaces on the train. Visitors will be allowed to bring Segways on board without permits for up to seven days.

Caltrain officials said test drives should lessen the possibility of inexperienced transport users losing control on a Caltrain platform and posing safety hazards. Over the summer, a Segway rider at a BART station lost control of the vehicle, which rolled onto the tracks and was hit by a train.

Recreational Segway users will be out of luck, since they still will be banned from bringing the devices on board. That's a more restrictive policy than BART's, which allows anyone to bring Segways on its trains during off-peak hours.

Jim Heldberg of Segway of San Francisco said he hoped Caltrain would reconsider its position. "Segway's a great way to extend a person's distance that they can move off of a train," he said.

Matthew Gast said his Segway was "a booster rocket for my commute" on BART from San Francisco to Pleasanton, but he drives when he works in Menlo Park because he can't take it on Caltrain.

Harvey said wheelchair space is already at a premium on Caltrains and the agency's attorneys are confident the new policy complies with the law.

"We don't think it's too restrictive that it will be subject to any legal challenge," Harvey said.