# Moving sidewalks in airports **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189 "2019-12-21T19:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/41 "2019-12-22T21:26:27Z")
Walk. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/42 "2019-12-22T21:27:29Z")
> [@as\_u\_wish](#): > > . Apparently at high congestion times, people would ride the escalator and then slow down or even stop at the bottom when they got off, rather than moving briskly forward at the same rate of speed. The next people would barge into them and there were many accidents. Is this practice common? No. It sounds like they’ve got a design problem with their platform layout. Maybe escalators are rare in California, and that contributes to the problem. London is a major tourist destination with escalators to service the commuters using the underground railway, and I’ve never heard that they turned off the escalators at peak times. Nor in any other place, but London is one of the busiest, and has tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/43 "2019-12-22T21:35:51Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I use them and walk on them, but mostly because I fly so rarely (like once every 10-15 years) that they’re still novel and fun to use. Same here. Like getting a free ride at Disneyland. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/44 "2019-12-22T22:04:27Z")
> [@as\_u\_wish](#): > > We recently were in California and took the BART trains several times. Usually the escalators were working and convenient. However, one time we were there during a high traffic commute period - and the first escalator we came to was off. I have a wonky knee so we decided to walk to the next one rather than using the first one as stairs (which was what regular travelers were doing). After getting to the next escalator and finding that it, too, was off, we asked one of the transit cops and he explained it was for safety. Apparently at high congestion times, people would ride the escalator and then slow down or even stop at the bottom when they got off, rather than moving briskly forward at the same rate of speed. The next people would barge into them and there were many accidents. After trying for a while to educate the commuters they finally decided to just turn off the escalators when a high volume of patrons was expected. We don’t travel much, so this was new to us. Is this practice common? That would be a bit bizarre. I’m quite familiar with using public transit so I know to get out of the way getting off the escalator and then find my train when I’m a tourist. That sounds like tourists who aren’t used to public transit and BART or MUNI is a novelty to them. Chicago summers are infamous for odd tourist behavior on the CTA as people that have never been on public transit in their lives try to use it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/45 "2019-12-22T22:12:47Z")
I either walk or stick to the right just like I do on an escalator ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/46 "2019-12-22T22:35:06Z")
Moving Sidewalks was the name of Billy Gibbon’s first band, by the way. They toured with Jimi Hendrix for a while. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/47 "2019-12-22T22:47:03Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > One way is to make the travelator out of panels, like an escalator is made of steps. When you rotate the panels to be fat and wide, they go slow. When you rotate them to be thin and long, they must go faster to get the extra length past each point in the same amount of time. > > Water does the same thing: a flat slow section of river must be much wider than a fast steep section of river: the river runs down into the slow section, then spreads out so that the same amount of water can move slowly down river: if it didn’t spread out, it would bank up. (It can do that to: when it banks up it’s called a hydraulic jump) That is one design; there are several more, including the (old?) one in Paris where you stand on metal rollers and grab the handrail to accelerate- so the fast-moving section is not in direct contact with the normal-speed sections at the entrance and exit, and the [one in Toronto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhppRLH_9w) which consists of metal panels like an escalator that slide relative to each other, but in no case does a gap open up and form a pit :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/48 "2019-12-22T23:22:18Z")
Sometimes I use it an excuse to take off my backpack and rest, but then I always keep to the right. Other times I walk on them. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/49 "2019-12-22T23:27:01Z")
I always walk on them. It’s great fun. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/50 "2019-12-22T23:31:25Z")
When I was an airline employee I would fly standby on the staff concession. Often would get a boarding pass only 20 minutes before the flight (pre 9/11 so much less security). I would run down those suckers. It was like having seven league boots! ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/51 "2019-12-23T00:09:32Z")
I agree with the posters that said “stand on the right” “walk on the left”. Seems the most logical etiquette. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/52 "2019-12-23T00:12:58Z")
The moving sidewalk was introduced for the [1893 Chicago Colombian Exposition](https://chicagology.com/columbiaexpo/fair030/). A two-lane version with one faster than the other was introduced for the [1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris](https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-paris-exposition-moving-sidewalk-paris-france-1900-54824250.html). I keep telling people that science fiction writers invented nothing. All that stuff was around decades before they got their grubby little paws on it. As for airports, I always use the movers because I have problems with my legs and feet and I can’t comfortably walk the distances required. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/53 "2019-12-23T02:36:38Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > It depends. Most of the time, I’ll just avoid them altogether. If it’s a brutally early flight and I haven’t had my coffee, I will stand on the right with my luggage in from the of me like a good urbanite. It’ll sometimes depend on the airport and the shoes I’m wearing. If it’s a huge airport or I’m in dress shoes, I’ll stand . Why do you avoid them? Are they blocked on both sides at the places you use them? Because I sometimes see people walking on the non-travelator bit even at Heathrow, and I don’t get that. When I could walk well I used the travelator because it was quicker, so why not, and it made me feel like I was living in the future. The neighbouring walkways are there for when the travelator isn’t working, because they’re tiled and easier to drag a suitcase along or push someone along in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/54 "2019-12-23T02:59:09Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I agree with the posters that said “stand on the right” “walk on the left”. Seems the most logical etiquette. Some airports have not only signs stating this instruction, but a recorded voice repeating it, and _still_ there are morons standing on the left, or even worse, standing in the middle with a big piece of luggage blocking the entire thing. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/55 "2019-12-23T18:25:47Z")
I always have so much time at airports there is no point running along the damn things. I rarely use them as I want some exercise after a long flight. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/56 "2019-12-23T19:04:43Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I agree with the posters that said “stand on the right” “walk on the left”. Seems the most logical etiquette. Is it “stand on the left and walk on the right” in England? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/57 "2019-12-23T20:27:50Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Is it “stand on the left and walk on the right” in England? Absolutely not, at least on London Underground escalators. I’ve only flow in and out of Heathrow and Manchester, I don’t remember if they had moving sidewalks or not. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/58 "2019-12-23T21:10:58Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Is it “stand on the left and walk on the right” in England? > [@dalej42](#): > > Absolutely not, at least on London Underground escalators. I’ve only flow in and out of Heathrow and Manchester, I don’t remember if they had moving sidewalks or not. Oops. We have conflicting answers! Compare Posts #13 and #29. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/59 "2019-12-23T21:40:05Z")
Personally I tend not to use them unless I’m in a rush, in which case I walk fast on them. If I have time to spare, I prefer to stay off them, for the simple reason that most travel I do means I’m going to be seated for 10 hours at least. I love the chance to move around and get my blood flowing. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189/60 "2019-12-24T19:57:25Z")
Never seen that at BART - shutting off escalators because people are sheep. Usually, if the escalator is off, it’s because it’s broken, which is sadly not uncommon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-sidewalks-in-airports/845189.md?page=4)