After several months of winter, students stricken with cabin fever might want to get out and about, but their transportation options are often limited.

Walking is slow. Cars are expensive to buy and operate, especially with gas at $3 a gallon. Buses are free to ride, but can take half an hour to get to some stops and are often filled with questionable characters.

The answer to these commuting woes might come in the form of more affordable and efficient modes of personal transportation, such as bicycles, mo-peds and Segways.

Bicycle

Bikes are the most widely used alternative for students. They cost little to buy, are cheap to maintain and require no money to operate.

Handy Bikes USA at 1055 W. Fifth Ave. has a large showroom of commuter-style bikes. Commuter bikes are defined by their comfortable, upright rider position and moderate gearing, which allows respectable top speed while maintaining easy hill climbing.

Jonpaul Martin, an employee of Handy Bikes, said they only stock basic models of popular bike manufacturers such as Giant and Raleigh, with prices starting at $279. Martin also said Handy Bikes orders more expensive, upgraded bikes at customer request.

Along with a bike, Martin said cyclists should consider buying a helmet and lock, in addition to a tire patch kit, extra inner tubes, tire levers and a small tire pump for fixing flat tires.

Although their cheap prices might seem tempting, Martin warned against buying a bike at a chain superstore such as Wal-Mart.

“I call (those bikes) ‘throw-aways,'” he said. “They just aren’t put together right.” Martin said sometimes people have to bring bikes from chain superstores in for repairs right after buying them.

The Ohio State Department of Public Safety Web site encourages students to register their bikes with the university. According to the Web site, registered bikes that are lost or stolen are more likely to be recovered. The Web site also said university traffic laws require that students do not ride bikes on sidewalks, even as a shortcut through the Oval.

Mo-ped/scooter

For someone looking for motorized transportation, Handy Bikes also sells and repairs Tomos mo-peds.

The base model mo-peds at Handy Bikes cost $999 and prices for better models go up to $1,699. All of their mo-peds get more than 100 miles per gallon.

Martin said mo-peds are not just efficient – they are also entertaining. “I had seven (mo-peds) at one time,” he said. “They’re fun and it’s really relaxing to ride them.”

Segway

Segway of Ohio at 765A N. High St. has a solution for people who are looking to get away from pedal-power all together.

The Segway is an electric-powered vehicle that uses computers and gyroscopes to balance a standing rider on two side-by-side wheels. Jared Cavalier, an employee at the dealership, said the Segway is designed to make urban travel better.

“Cars are really designed for city-to-city travel,” he said. “When you get into the city, they’re a lot less efficient.”

Cavalier said half of all car trips are made by one driver going five miles or less with no cargo – exactly the niche the Segway was made to fill.

The Segway’s top speed is 12.5 mph. Cavalier said this speed is still sidewalk appropriate, but equal to running speed, and because cars average only eight to nine mph in city driving, trips should still take about the same amount of time.

Although the Segway might look perilous to operate, Cavalier said it is actually very safe.

“(The Segway is) redundant – two computers, two gyroscopes, two everything – so even if you have a catastrophic failure, it still won’t fall over. And since your center of gravity is the same as when you’re walking, if you hit someone it’s just like walking into them,” he said.

The base price for a Segway is $5,150, but Cavalier said someone who buys a Segway and uses it for city transportation instead of a car could make that money back in a year because the user would not have to pay for gas, insurance or maintenance.

Cavalier said the Segway is also superior to other forms of personal transportation.

“On a street, bikes are a danger to themselves. On the sidewalk, they’re a danger to pedestrians,” Cavalier said. “Motorcycles, scooters and mo-peds are great for recreation, but for transportation they are just a slight improvement on the car. The Segway replicates the idea of walking. It just uses wheels instead of legs. It’s essentially an enhanced pedestrian.”

Joe Miller can be reached at [email protected].