Norman postal carriers test Segway Human Transporter

NORMAN -- Regina Osgood delivers the mail on a two-wheeled, electric scooter, her blond ponytail swinging in the breeze as she cruises over a garden hose in someone's lawn.

The 5-foot, 95-pound postal carrier whips through her route on a high-tech Segway Human Transporter, a futuristic scooter that could become the newest mode of transport for the Postal Service.

Osgood -- one of eight Norman mail carriers testing out the Segway HT -- said it beats walking eight miles with a 35-pound mail satchel over her shoulder.

She's getting a little tired of the questions, though.

Residents on the quiet, tree-lined streets where Osgood, 29, delivers mail are peering from their windows, taking her picture and asking if they can ride the Segway.

Even the neighborhood dogs are curious.

Canines that used to leave her alone are chasing her. Others are just scared. One normally ferocious dog climbs back over the fence into his yard when he sees the Human Transporter.

"He runs every time," Osgood said. "He hightails it."

The Postal Service chose Norman and four other cities to test the scooter, introduced with great hype last December by inventor Dean Kamen.

The single-person vehicle is battery-powered, with computers and gyroscopes that allow riders to negotiate curbs and ruts. The scooter makes a 360-degree turn in one spot, and travels up to 12.5 miles per hour -- three times as fast as a person walks.

An eight-week trial for the Segway began June 10 in Norman. Additional testing is happening this summer in Memphis, Tenn.; the Bronx in New York, San Francisco and Chandler, Ariz. They also plan testing in a sixth city but haven't selected that location yet.

Data collectors carrying clipboards and stopwatches walk along the mail routes to record the scooter's speed and agility. At the end of the testing, postal officials in Washington, D.C., will decide whether to buy a fleet of Segways, said Norman postal spokesman Larry Flener.

The machines are used on walking routes where mail slots are in doors. Carriers will stick with trucks to deliver to curbside boxes.

"The Postal Service has tested virtually every piece of modern transportation that has been invented -- from the rails, to automobiles to airplanes," Flener said. Mail carriers use whatever works best -- whether it's a dogsled in Alaska, a boat in the Detroit River or a mule in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, he said.

Preliminary tests this winter in Tampa, Fla., and Concord, N.H., showed the Segway reduces physical stress and increases carriers' speed. The Postal Service purchased 40 of the $9,000 machines after those initial tests.

The National Park Service is testing the Human Transporter in the Grand Canyon. GE Plastics, a unit of General Electric, is using the scooter for indoor and outdoor workers in Manchester, N.H. And several police departments across the country are letting officers patrol on Segways.

The machine's inventor claims it will change the way people live and work. Someday, Human Transporters could be zipping down sidewalks, through airport terminals and even on golf courses.

Osgood has ridden her scooter for two weeks. The only problem, she says, is the lack of exercise. She thinks she might have gained a pound since she stopped trekking her eight-mile route.

She guides the Segway door to door, over sidewalks, streets and lawns, then hops off in front of each mail slot. The machine gently rocks as she steps off, then balances itself on two rubber tires.

Osgood only has to lean forward slightly to make it go. She leans backward to stop or back up.

"You can turn right in one spot on a dime," she said. "You can stop really fast. It's amazing."

Norman Postmaster Andy Tengeres can't help but smile when he thinks about how his mail carriers are the first to use what might be the ride of the future.

"We're in the Jetson age," he said.

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