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The transportation of police

From today's wapo: Segways on patrol.

I am not sure when the over-hyped ginger became the folly of the Segway, I think they are sort of neat, if over-priced (but that comes from low demand). But somehow Segways have yet to take off. The article is an example of a niche where Segways might have an advantage, police officers on patrol. It is certainly better than having police in giant Chevy Caprices. They are also used by Maryland state police at BWI airport.

Transportation technologies need a base niche where they outperform others in order to gain traction in the market. Specialized markets like police may be what the Segway needs, though it might remain confined to its niches like airport people movers or warehouse forklifts.


Posted by David Levinson on June 1, 2007 01:54 AM |

Comments

Unfortunately this was explored when the segways first debuted, and they had a few shortcomings over the basic bicycle patrol. 1. after a pursuit the officer can drop a bike and continue on foot, how does he or she do that with a bike? 2. The bike is cheaper to purchase and maintain.

Though I do hope an application is found for them.

Posted by: Marcotico | June 1, 2007 03:37 AM

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