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Riding out the storm?
(by Rebecca S. Rivas - March 11, 2008)
What seemed to Alderman Lyda Krewson to be a straightforward bill has made some city of St. Louis residents concerned that it would create a monopoly and infringe on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On March 7, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen’s Parks and Environment Committee and outside parties discussed a bill that would allow Segways, a brand of two-wheel electric transporters, on sidewalks and bike paths in Forest Park — but only to those who pay up to $300 for an annual permit or $10 for a pro-rated daily fee. The fees would not apply to people with disabilities.
Only the Science Center and institutions within the park would be allowed to operate guided Segway tours on the sidewalks. The park would also limit the number of permits given out each year to about 50, Krewson said.
“I’ve seen a lot of negative press coverage, as if I’m trying to restrict Segways,” she said at the board meeting. “I’m actually trying to allow them.”
Krewson told the commitee that she was not trying to reverse the 2001 city ordinance that bans Segways on sidewalks citywide. She was just trying to allow them in Forest Park, so that the Science Center could continue the guided Segway tours it began four years ago.
However, ardent Segway supporters said Krewson can’t separate the citywide illegality issue from this bill because the city ordinance doesn’t apply to the Segways in the first place.
In 2001, the city banned motorized scooters, called Razors, on sidewalks. The 2001 scooter law, however, does specify characteristics, such handle bars and motors, that also pertain to Segways, said Fran Oates, an associate counselor for the city.
In 2003, the state passed a law that legalized Segways on sidewalks and bike paths statewide, but the law left room for each city to customize its own ordinances.
Locally only 100 to 200 people own the $5,000 podium-looking transporters, which are most commonly used by security teams, including the Washington University team.
Jerry Kerr, a Segway owner who uses the device instead of a wheelchair, said that when he talked with Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office about the issue, his representatives explained that the city ordinance that bans motorized scooters does not apply to Segways.
Kerr, who is the president of Disability Rights Advocates for Technology, is against Krewson’s bill because he said it would put people with disabilities in an awkward position. He said it would set up situations in which law enforcers would approach people riding Segways to verify that they have a disability.
“We want to be integrated,” Kerr said. “We don’t want to be ... the only ones [who] can use Segways in the park.”
Joe Sapienza, director of St. Louis Glide Tours and owner of eight Segways, said he takes his clients through Forest Park on the street and some sidewalks. Prohibiting his company access to sidewalks would affect his business, he told the board.
“If you’re going to allow only one group to operate tours on the sidewalks, it certainly sounds like a monopoly,” he said.
In the city, his tours also cross some sidewalks with the permission of the city police. He said no one has ever gotten a ticket for riding a Segway on a sidewalk.
“There’s a reason for that. [The ordinance] doesn’t apply to Segways,” he said.
The lawyer he consulted said a Segway can be operated on sidewalks as long as the driver stays on the right-hand side.
However, when Science Center Director Doug King was informed of the city ordinance, he immediately stopped the center’s Segway tours that ventured into the park.
King said the Segway program aligns with the center’s mission to get people excited about science. When he first saw a Segway, he said, “I knew every kid in the building would want to ride one.”
There is a waiting list of people who wanted to take a tour when the issue is resolved.
“We’d like to get back outside,” King testified. “It’s not as safe on the street because the traffic in the park is 25mph and Segways only go 12mph.”
Frieda Smith, director of the center’s public programs, said she was surprised that the bill has become so controversial. She said the idea to limit the number of Segways came from Krewson and from park officials. “I don’t want to seem unappreciative of the fact that they are trying to make this happen,” Smith said. “We are in favor of allowing as many people or groups who want to operate tours in the park.”
“I do know some people who believe that the Science Center is trying to do this [to limit] competition,” Smith said. “That has never been true.”
Krewson said she is in favor of lifting the ban on Segways citywide but was not ready for that challenge. Limiting the bill to Forest Park seemed like a good reasonable first step, she said.
Other users of the paths in the park, including runners and bikers, want to make sure they are not sidelined, “so we want to start slow,” she said. The number of permits allowed ultimately will be up to the park director, Krewson said.
She also said no one wants to see the park overrun by Segways, which is why, as a member of the Forest Park Advisory Board, she advises limiting tours to institutions within the park.
“I understand why commercial operators object,” she said. “I’m all about all of us making more money, but it makes more sense to allow park partners, who have been there all along, to have first go at it.
“Why just those guys? Those are the folks who put money into the park and have spent over $1 million.”
At the end of the meeting, Parks and Environment Committee Chairman Alderman Joseph Roddy said there was not enough time to take a vote on the bill.
The next committee meeting is scheduled for March 14.
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