-
What's The Rush? Let The Escalator Do All The Work
-
The London Underground has some stations that are very, very deep in the ground, which you might know from how they were used as air raid shelters during World War II. I've been in many of the tube stations, and some of those elevators are like the long ones in Washington (the one at Angel Station, which I've experienced, is few feet longer than the epic Dupont Circle north entrance escalator in D.C.). But those long escalators come at a price: There are often logjams at the end, with people jamming up and potentially causing danger to the people behind them when there are too many people and nowhere to go. So they're trying an experiment: Some of the escalators are banning walking, with riders told to stand two abreast rather than all to one side to let people walk past. This is because the theory is that if everyone just stays put, it'll prevent the jams and the flow of foot traffic will actually be faster. We'll see about that, but in the meantime, when you get on an escalator, are you a walker or a stander? (And how about on those people mover belts at airports -- walk or stand there and take the ride?) (New York Times)
Have an opinion? Add your comment below.