He glides up the sidewalk on Franklin Street with a smile and a nod, extending his arm for an occasional handshake, casting a spell that freezes time. One woman halts in mid-conversation to crane out of her car window. Another whiplashes her dog in a split-second stop at the curb. A third stands at the ATM, stunted in her mission to retrieve money, her card suspended inches from the slot.

But as affable as Waters is, his charm is not all his own. His mojo is man-made.

Waters, a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill, is the owner of one of those Segway Human Transporters, a two-wheeled motorized scooter. The scooters use gyroscopes to keep riders balanced. To go forward, the rider leans forward; to go backward, he leans back. The machine will go as fast as 10 mph and is powered by rechargeable batteries.

In the two months since he began tooling around town on his trendy toy, Waters has become a ubiquitous attraction.

He draws crowds at crosswalks and curious looks from passers-by. Many days, he can be seen showing off daring feats of balance or letting strangers test-drive his $4,000 Segway (he has comprehensive collision insurance). He has so perfected his pitch on the virtues of the machines that some think he's a Segway salesman.

But Waters, 28, is selling a much bigger, bolder concept. An aspiring city planner, he has a dream that one day people all over the country, maybe even the world, will abandon their cars for other forms of personal transportation such as the Segway. In his nirvana, society is less dependent on oil, less polluted and more connected as a community.

Waters said he wants to help remove the glass and metal that shield us from our fellow man.

"The promise of cars was that it would bring us closer together, but they cause this disconnect," he said. "My mission is to find a way to keep cars from isolating us. The Segway is just my segue to that. It's a conversation starter."

A revolution foreseen

That conversation is typically 90 percent about the machine and 10 percent about the mission. Waters talks up the maneuverability and speed of the Segway, which allows him to make quick work of his 3 1/2-mile round-trip commute to school.

Some, such as UNC-CH freshman David Scoville, are sold. Scoville has avascular necrosis in his hips and knees, a circulatory disease that limits blood flow to the bones. He thinks the Segway could be a good mode of transportation for him.

"It takes a lot less space to park, that's for sure," he said.

Others, such as junior Christian Rhodes, have doubts about how practical it is. "If you want to have fun with it, I could see that. But going to class everyday? Uh-uh," he said. "I would rather just put one foot in front of the other."

Waters knows there are some who think his goal is too lofty, that creating a society less dependent on cars is too idealistic. He shrugs off the naysaying.

"That's the great thing about being younger than those people. Things get jaded as you get older," he said. "You have to take advantage of your ideals while you're young."

Waters acknowledged that his plan has a downside: He has gained weight riding around on the Segway. People ask him whether it's worth it, which he can't say. He put it on his credit card; he hasn't paid for it yet.

He said the experience, however, has been priceless.

"I've met more people in the last two months than I have in my whole life," he said. "If I can convince people of the value of real human interaction, I'll be successful, and it'll happen by itself, the whole revolution."