Forbid walking up and down escalators in Taiwan? A Japanese prefecture just did this

Yes, please.

Maybe it could move more people, but it slows down people who want to go faster.

People who stand on the escalator aren’t in a hurry. They can wait longer.

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Maybe I’m thick or something, but I don’t get the logic that standing on both sides makes things quicker. I charge down the escalator at seven in the morning, and manage to grab a train by seconds, thus rendering me really early for work and able to have a relaxing breakfast and a few smokes, whereas if I’d obediently stood on the right, I’d be rushing around because I lost seven minutes.

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The central point of the article is that, in reality, nobody walks. There’s only one line, on one side of the escalator, because the other side is “reserved” for people who want to walk, ie., it’s empty.

What they’re actually saying is that a full escalator is more efficient than a half-empty one.

There’s also the scenario that SuiGeneris mentions, where it would probably be better to have the escalator acting as a choke point. The rationale is the same as the slowdown zones at times of high traffic on freeways, which prevent “shocks” and thereby keep the traffic flowing smoothly.

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Not like the stupid lights on the freeway entrances here, please. Light traffic but still make us stop so we can join the traffic on the freeway at half speed like a limping bullfighter. I hate that.

it’s a shitty idea that only leads to an even lazier, unhealthier and fattier population stuck in even worse human traffic jams.

but then everybody to the gym, to lift weights…

theyre promoting laziness.

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Oh, that one drives me nuts. The first time I saw that I was like “WTAF”. Someone then explained to me that people here aren’t taught how to join a freeway at the correct speed. No need to correct the actual problem: just introduce a different one instead.

I was referring to the variable speed limits on freeways. They only exist in a few countries, but they have some sound modelling behind them. The intent is to keep everyone moving at the optimum speed, which might be somewhat less than drivers actually think is possible because they can’t see very far ahead.

I thought the idea was to reduce bottle necks on the freeways. In the UK they use graded speed limits on the M25 to stop traffic jams from the concertina effect.

EDIT: Sorry, I replied before reading your edit. Doh!

Some people cannot hold handrails by their right hands.

Unless you’re massively overweight, you can probably hold it with your left hand on the right side.

It may not be so safe for some people.

Elevator then.

I did it all the time; it’s totally safe.

If you’re not a clumsy or easily distracted idiot. You do have to be careful when you do it. Yes, I did it too, but I wouldn’t say it’s “totally safe.”

I’m not :slight_smile: I would say there was a 0% chance of anything bad happening.

what? You put your stroller with a baby in it on escalator? What an idiot.

And we rode in open pickup beds.
Yee, ha!

We probably did it every day for years. What do you think was going to happen, the baby’s head was going to explode? Lol.

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Escalators, like cars, are inherently dangerous. You have to treat them with a certain amount of respect, and they’ll be safe (for a given value of ‘safe’). I can’t see any obvious reason why it wouldn’t be possible to put a stroller on an escalator safely, but you’d better make sure you can do it with a “what’s the worst that could happen?” mindset.

You’d think someone would have figured out some sort of mechanism that could make this a bit more bombproof, like the wheelchair attachments on buses, or the way shopping trolleys are designed to latch into moving walkways.

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