Segway Tours Make Way Through Campus

It was 1 p.m. I had just eaten at the café with my friend and was ready to head back to my dorm to fall into a food coma. While I was passing Vaughn, my friend pointed out a huge group of people with helmets on these nifty contraptions. I figured it was just a group passing of bicyclers. Unable to see them from the end of Sykes, I squinted to get a better view. I was finally able to see that they were riding Segways.

The guide was in front with the tourists in tow. Many struggled to keep their balance as they awkwardly leaned forward to go faster. Others struggled to hold onto the bars to keep their balance. In rows of two’s I began to see their excited faces as many students looked at them in astonishment.

As the group of 12 Segway riders began to approach us, they slowly leaned backwards to lose some speed. We quickly moved to the grass as they struggled to swerve around us. They rotated the handlebars to the left. I heard students shout, “Let me ride on your Segway!”

I saw so many new faces, young and old, smiling at us as they passed. In the few months that I had been at UT I had never seen a single Segway pass through. My friend told me the tour group was called the Magic Carpet Glide. The tour group passes through many Tampa locations including Bayshore Boulevard, the Convention Center, the Bay Bridge, the University of Tampa, Davis Island and Harbour Island. By traveling with Segways, tourists are able to travel to all these destinations in a matter of two hours.

I was even more astonished to find out that the tour went through the University of Tampa several times a week without me noticing. I wanted to ride one so badly but I was disappointed to find out you have to book a tour a week in advance because the tours are only offered three times a day.

I began to wonder what it would be like to ride around Tampa on a Segway with the wind blowing in my face while watching fellow classmates stare in awe and jealousy. Instead of having to walk to class or sit in Kennedy’s traffic, I could just zoom by on my amazingly fast Segway.

When I turned around, I could see the Segways picking up speed as they ventured toward Plant Hall. The hum of their motors grew faint.

Theresa Stanton can be reached at theresa.stanton@spartans.ut.edu.