Be careful out there folks.
Someone once came up with a theory that the totality of people would be shifted faster if they did away with that rule.
The London Underground is studying whether standing on both sides of the escalators can be successfully implemented at stations where escalators carry passengers over a height of 20 meters, such as the ones in Holborn, one of the city’s busiest and deepest stations.
It’s hard to change ingrained habits though.
Hold on a sec…
“stand on the right, walk on the left” makes sense in the U.S. That’s essentially the same convention as driving; slower traffic to the right, faster traffic passes on the left. But in England, cars drive on the left side of the street, so their slower traffic should keep to the left.
So what are the rules for pedestrians in England; same as cars, or the same as walkers in the U.S.?
Walking up escalators is nuts anyhow.
The steps = “treads” are too far apart vertically. IOW the “risers” are too tall. They are badly sized compared to staionary stairs. At least for ordinary -sized people, and doubly so for kids or elderly. And for tall escalators, the risk of falling and tumbling the long distance back down is too great.
I ain’t got time to lollygag on no moving staircase.
I will literally sprint up escalators if they’re clear.
However, that’s only when total throughput is an issue. Airports are rarely that crowded. The vast majority of the time, the moving walkways have plenty of space for people to stand to the right and still have plenty of space between parties. Allowing people to walk in those situations would get everyone to their destination slightly faster on average: it wouldn’t slow down the standers and it would speed up the walkers. Whereas if the moving walkway were backed up so much that people had to queue up in order to stand right, then using both sides would be better.
Yes, i read that report, and it basically came down to “on really crowded escalators in the London subway system, people would pack more closely if everyone stood still. And packing more closely would increase the average thru put of the escalator more than walking does.”
I’ve never seen a line to get on a walkway at an airport, and i don’t think their total thru put is a significant limiting factor. So the theory doesn’t apply.
Disagree in specific, agree in general. At DIA (Denver International) the trams leading to the concourses are on lower levels, with escalators leading up to the main level. Each time the tram (often packed to the gills) exits, there are queues of people trying to get up the escalators, with some conflict between those wanting to climb or stand.
But it’s not a chronic issue, just a factor of how DIA handles surges and it’s own extremely spread out nature. And as you correctly pointed out, not applicable to the report which is based on steady, high demand.
Agree. I used to walk up a little bit. But man, if you fall you are really gonna be a mess on those steel stairs.
And as Steven Wright said - “I fell for 20 minutes”
I’m not sure if this has been said – I only read the first few and last few posts – but the issue is not standing vs walking. It’s just allowing enough room for people to get around you.
I walk quite quickly, so to me a group of people mincing along side by side is basically the same as a group of people standing around side by side.
On a busy walkway it’s usually quicker for me to not use it at all than to have to say “excuse me” over and over. Especially if I’m in a hurry.
Japan is having the same problem: