I must agree with Paul Franklin's comments about the potential dangers threatened by the Segway transportation device. As it is, pedestrians are at the lowest rung of the transportational pecking order and are already at risk on sidewalks from speeding skateboarders and bicyclists who insist on riding on the sidewalk regardless of the presence of bike lanes which are frequently right along side. If you add in the occasional motorized wheelchair, you have quite a traffic hazzard of which pedestrians are the most likely victims. While there are laws which require bicyclists to ride in the street where bike lanes exist, the laws are seldom, if ever, enforced. The same applies to skaters who use sidewalks in the Downtown area. Tossing the Segway into this volatile mix makes no sense.
The inventor of the Segway considers it an improvement upon walking, as if exercise were somehow suddenly outmoded. If one is travelling a considerable distance, a bicycle or motor vehicle is far more practical. If one is not disabled, why would one want to ride a device such as the Segway for short distances rather than walk? I believe it is a solution for a problem which doesn't exist and would be itself the cause of new problems.
If the Segway is permitted in Santa Cruz, it should share the bike lanes with bicyclists, if the bicyclist can be induced into using them.