Record of Determination for a Public Use Limitation on Segway and Personal Mobility Vehicles

This Revised Record of Determination supersedes the earlier Record of Determination regarding the use of Segway® HTs or other motorized personal mobility devices within National Mall and Memorial Parks signed March 21, 2005. Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. §§ 4.l0(a), 1.5(a) and consistent with the National Capital Region Washington DC Transportation Study for the National Mall and Surrounding Park Area Finding of No Significant Impact approved February 5, 2010, this Record allows Segway® HTs or other motorized personal mobility devices to be operated on additional designated park sidewalks within National Mall and Memorial Parks as well as continues the earlier operating standards. Violation of this Record of Determination is prohibited.
I. Segway® HTs or other motorized personal mobility devices may be used on the designated park sidewalks located (1) on the National Mall adjacent to 3rd, 4th, 7th and 14th Streets and between Constitution and Independence Avenues, (2) along Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd to 15th Streets NW, including Freedom Plaza and (3) along Ohio Drive SW between East Basin Drive and the entrance of East Potomac Golf Course, (4) National Mall route, and (5) West Potomac Park loop route. These designated park sidewalk routes are more fully depicted in the attached NAMA Record of Determination for Segway or Other Motorized Personal Mobility Devices Authorized Route Map dated March 22, 2010.

II. However, any park visitor with a disability is permitted to use Segway® HTs or other motorized personal mobility devices throughout the park, including all structures, facilities, park roads, sidewalks, trails and other surfaces, when such devices are used for the sole purpose of mobility assistance.

III. The use of Segways on designated park sidewalks must also be conducted in a safe and responsible manner; maximum speed will not exceed more than 8 M.P.H. ("Segway® HTs sidewalk/Intermediate" key), so as not to minimize endangering oneself or other park visitors.

Consistent with the District of Columbia regulations on safe use of Segways (defined by D.C. Code§ 50-2201.02 (12)) as an "electric personal assistive mobility device"), the relevant sections of 49 DC REG. 9788 [10 DCMR 9a, 18 DCMR 1201.2, .10, .11] is also amended and adopted herein, and incorporated by reference under 36 C.F.R. § 4.2, to govern Segway use on designated park sidewalks are as follows:

No person under 16 years of age may operate a Segway® HT.
A person shall operate a[n] ... electric personal assistive mobility device in a safe and non-hazardous manner so as not to endanger himself or herself or any other person.
A person shall operate a motorized personal mobility device so long as the rider does not create a hazard.
Any person riding a motorized personal mobility device upon a sidewalk shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and shall travel at a speed no greater than the posted speed limit of the adjacent roadway; provided that such speed is safe for the conditions then existing on the sidewalk.
A person riding a motorized personal mobility device upon and along a sidewalk or while rossing a roadway in a crosswalk, shall have all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances, except that the operator must yield to pedestrians on the sidewalk or crosswalk. Elevator use will be the only exception - users of a motorized personal mobility device will enter first, be allowed time to park and secure such device, and will be last to exit.
Consistent with the laws and regulations of most adjacent jurisdictions, helmets and pedestrian warning devices will not be required by the NPS distinct from local jurisdictional requirements for users of Segway® HTs motorized personal mobility devices.
Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § l .5(b), publication of this Record of Determination as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted. With only a few Segways used in certain parts of Washington, D.C., this public use limitation allows use of Segways on additional designated park sidewalks across federal parkland between downtown areas of Washington, D.C. will allow us to continue to preserve the parks' natural, aesthetic or cultural values and is not of a highly controversial nature. Indeed, the public had extensive the opportunity to comment on National Capital Region Washington DC Transportation Study for the National Mall and Surrounding Park Area regarding Segway use before the Finding of No Significant Impact was approved February 5, 2010. This is also consistent with hundreds of past public use limitations, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and past judicial adjudications.
Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.7, notice of this public use limitation and operating standards, will be made through the Park Compendium, notices available at park headquarters, through media advisories, park handouts, and by notifying Segway rental companies operating in Washington, D.C. who should advise their customers. Finally, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § I .5(b), this Record of Determination is available to the public upon request.

John Piltzacker
Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks
3/30/2010
 
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