Rideable luggage: the smart travel accessory with a catch

Modobag’s self propelled ride-on luggage may be exciting for travellers but airports have yet to be convinced. Andrew Hennigan reports

Forget smart luggage that tracks its own location and calls the owner when it is misplaced, the must-have travel product of 2016 is a suitcase that does all that and also doubles as an electric motorcycle that transports its owner around airport terminals.

If only it were so easy! Perhaps unsurprisingly, the catch right now is that you will be lucky to find an airport that allows you to use it. So will safety rules doom products like this or will airports they adapt to these emerging technologies? Why the jury is out, let’s see what the airports think.

Modobag, a US-based startup funded by a very successful IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign has created the first motorised, rideable, carry-on sized luggage. The bag can be stowed in an overhead luggage compartment on an airplane and dragged along manually just like any other bag, but when the foldable steering column and footrests are extended it can be ridden like a small electric motorcycle.

Travelling at speeds up to nearly 13kph, the bag transports people three times faster than walking, giving them a rest at the same time. During the journey the rider can also use spare capacity from the bag’s lithium battery to charge phones, tablets and laptops. Powering the 8.6kg bag is a 200W motor supplied by a battery that can transport an 82kg person 9.7km. A built-in charger allows the bag to be recharged from normal household outlets and there is a gauge to show how much power remains.

Apart from the obvious riding feature, the bag also includes other smart bag functions. Using GPS it can determine its location and through GPSR/GSM technology it can communicate with the owner, reporting its position. The bag works with a companion app for IOS and Android phones.

Airport anxiety 

From a travellers’ perspective the Modobag is a great idea, except that there is a catch. Most airports already ban the use of wheeled devices by travellers except for a few special cases.

Most airports already ban the use of wheeled devices by travellers except for a few special cases

“We have a policy concerning bicycles, hoverboards and so on: they are actually not allowed in terminals. Modobag would fall into the same category,” says Dieter Hulick, a spokesman for Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe’s biggest hubs. With a policy of ‘safety first’ the only people allowed to use rideable bags are employees, and only after training.

It’s not just Frankfurt.

Schiphol policy allows only ‘vehicles’ within the framework of persons with reduced mobility and for companies. “The merger of passenger flow with motorised transport in the terminal is risky and has our special attention,” says spokesman Paul Weber who expects no change in this policy.

Outside Europe, other airports confirm that they have similar policies. San Diego International Airport also restricts the use of wheeled vehicles within the terminal for designated airport representatives, law enforcement officers, tenant employees and passengers needing a wheeled vehicle for mobility. Meanwhile, in Singapore Changi Airport the use of ‘lightweight transport machines’ is limited to airport staff in the interests of safety.

At present airport operators all seem to outlaw the use of personal wheeled transport devices within terminal buildings for safety reasons, which means that for self-propelled luggage to become a thing the developers will need to either lobby for changes in the rules or look for alternative uses. 

The batteries used in these products are also an issue. Indeed, the hefty lithium battery might also be a concern for airport security. All major airlines have already banned the transport of hoverboards using similar batteries at the end of 2015 following news coverage of battery fires in some budget models. The same airlines could easily restrict the use of battery-powered luggage.

So will battery powered ride-on luggage become mainstream? At this stage it’s looking unlikely. There is certainly still a lot of work to do before it does.

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