April 21, 2005
Riding herd: UW parking enforcer saves time with a Segway scooter
It’s all in the heels and toes, “Tone” says.
And then, in deft, two-wheeled swoops between parked cars, he demonstrates.
“Tone” is Tone Aegerter, a parking enforcement officer with the UW Police. He’s not a cop as such, with powers of arrest, but he’s responsible for parking enforcement in campus lots. His name is probably short for Tony, but he’s not saying for sure.
Aegerter is something of a novelty on campus these days as he checks parked cars for required permits in the UW’s south and west lots and near the UW Medical Center. That’s because he does his work on a new Segway scooter, the famous “human transport device” created a few years back by inventor Dean Kamen.
The UW Police Department has purchased a single Segway (pronounced Segg-way) as a sort of pilot project to determine whether the scooters match the needs of the department. All seven of the parking enforcement officers were trained on the Segway, Aegerter said — so, how did he get chosen for this cool gig? Simple: “I liked it the best, and no one argued.”
Aegerter has a set of keys that determine the scooter’s speed setting: beginner, medium and advanced, which offer speeds of 6, 8 and 12.5 mph. respectively.
Once started, the scooter gives off only a low hum as Aegerter demonstrates how he accelerates forward or back by shifting his weight toward his toes or his heels. The scooter obeys instantly, as if reading the driver’s intention to move as clearly as the weight shift itself. The turning mechanism is located on the left handlebar — a quick twist of the wrist complements the weight shifts to enable Aegerter to soar effortlessly from one car to the other. “The footprint is narrow,” Aegerter adds, “if you can walk up to something and not hit your shoulders, you can ride.”
The scooter — the only one on campus so far — cost in the ballpark of $5,000, said Brian Ho, parking enforcement manager for the police. The money was paid by the UW’s executive vice president’s office as an energy conservation project. Ho said, “It has served us well. The ability for parking enforcement officers to learn and use the equipment has been very good, and the equipment’s very simple to operate. There’s a safety factor there.”
Aegerter has worked at the UW for about five years. Before that, he ran a food bank for the Salvation Army, worked at Boeing and in ground transportation at SeaTac Airport. He’s glad for his job on campus. “It’s such a beautiful place. I come from a small town in Nebraska, and it’s like being back in a small town again.”
Aegerter says he covers about half his area on the Segway and uses a department car for the other half. He feels safe on the Segway, he says, and has never taken a fall.
Is there any downside to the Segway Scooter? “I haven’t found one yet,” he says.
Turning up a street and into a gravel parking lot, Aegerter shows that the scooter isn’t slowed by a bit of rough terrain. Still, Ho says, not all places and routes on the UW campus are appropriate for such a vehicle; four-wheeled patrol cars enable officers to carry traffic cones and other equipment needed on the street beat. He said issues of funding and “appropriateness for patrol” will help the department decide whether more such scooters are in the UW’s future.
But in the meantime, Tone Aegerter seems to be enjoying his new wheels thoroughly. “People are just totally flabbergasted” he said. “I let them pose on it and they take pictures of each other all the time.”
Aegerter said he also appreciates the fact that the scooter underscores the accessibility that reflects the department’s attitude toward community policing. People tend to notice and talk more with him on the curiosity-inspiring gadget, he said, and plus, “It sends the message that the UW is about doing things for the environment.”
And above all else, how does Aegerter like his new ride?
“It’s the closest thing you’ll come to a magic carpet,” he said.
