Chicago to Purchase Segways for Police Department

Recently, the City of Chicago released a $580,000 contract to purchase Segway Human Transporters, primarily for the police department. This contract is the largest municipal contract in the history of Segway. It will allow the city to acquire up to 100 Segway HTs to add to the 40 units currently used to patrol O'Hare and Midway Airports and the city's downtown and lakefront.

Worldwide, nearly 120 law enforcement agencies now use Segway HTs to patrol a variety of environments, including high-density urban centers, university and medical center campuses, shopping malls, and airports. Another dozen federal and municipal agencies use the machines for bomb squad response and explosive ordinance disposal.

In late 2005 Segway introduced its 180 Police Package, which includes a collection of high-demand police accessories. This model configuration is the basis for many of the departmental purchases in recent months.

The Segway HT is an ideal policing solution for cities that are trying to reduce fuel costs. Chicago's Metropolis 20/20 is a growth plan designed to manage transportation and other issues around the anticipated addition of 800,000 new jobs in downtown Chicago by 2020.

Not only does the Segway HT solve many of the police fleet problems associated with Chicago’s Metropolis 20/20 growth plan, but use of the devices is also in line with Mayor Daley's participation in the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information visit www.segway.com.