A Segway Segue to a New Tour

Picture this: you're strolling down the sidewalk from the trendy Union Bar and Grille towards the Back Bay T stop or heading from Haymarket over to Modern Pastry to grab a cannoli when suddenly, out of no where, a pack of roving Segway tourists come whizzing by. We're sure we've heard about these tours coming to Boston before – but according to the Globe today (on the front page, no less) they're closer than ever. David Nicholson, president of In Balance Tours, was meeting with city officials trying to sell them on the idea of having Segway powered tours rolling through Boston in the near future.

Boston is a walking city, the city still embraces the nickname, and the Segway is an interesting hybrid between a trolley tour and a walking tour - and remains a largely unregulated mode of transport in the Hub. We're not buying it as anything more than an inconvenient gimmick. The sidewalks in many parts of the city are not wide enough for a wheelchair, let alone a pack of Segway riders. Biking is a generally effective way to traverse the city, the lack of designated bike lanes and the abundant amount of masshole drivers help drive Boston to the top of the worst place to bike lists. Having the Segway tours on any of the city sidewalks strikes us as a hassle – crowds or narrow, bricked paths pose obstacles. We would only endorse Segways on city streets for those tourists who have a bit of a death wish.

Yes, friends. Segway tours do exist. Flickr user 8bitjoystick shows them menacing our nation's capital