A reminder: while on an escalator, stand on the right. If people want to pass you, they'll do so on the left. Yoni Alter, a Londoner, thinks these footprints would help educate tourists about Tube etiquette.
It would probably make more sense if it was done in reverse - in the UK we drive on the left and overtake on the right, so surely that should be the rule. If it's different on an escalator, perhaps that's why people don't get follow this 'rule'. Having said that, most tourists are from countries where they drive on the right.
Maybe the rule should be: if you want to walk on the escalator because you're late for a train, you should set off 30 seconds earlier.
Unless you're in Tokyo (or the greater Kanto region), where the etiquette is to stand on the left and pass on the right.
It's not about walking on the escalator because you're late, it's about increasing the throughput of the elevator. If there is no rule regarding this, the natural tendency is for people to stand alternatively left and right, so there will be unused space throughout the escalator. by forcing standing people to one side frees up this space, and of course the walking people increase throughput as well.
However, I did hear that this method is particularly punishing on the machinery, due to the fact that weight is unbalanced most of the time, and it also increases the danger of clothing being stuck. The woes of super-crowded east asian urban life I guess.
As long as you're standing on one side or the other, that's fine. But please, people: if you can't keep up with the pace of traffic, don't stand in the middle of an aisle, hallway or sidewalk.
As long as you have the foot prints painted on the escalator, which side doesn't matter, does it? I think it is a great idea, and escalators should be equipped this way all the time. You would not have to have each step painted. Every 5th step with a pair of feet, and two steps with one left and one right ought to suffice.
It should be an easy thing to do with a stencil and paint.
Maybe the rule should be: if you want to walk on the escalator because you're late for a train, you should set off 30 seconds earlier.
It's not about walking on the escalator because you're late, it's about increasing the throughput of the elevator. If there is no rule regarding this, the natural tendency is for people to stand alternatively left and right, so there will be unused space throughout the escalator. by forcing standing people to one side frees up this space, and of course the walking people increase throughput as well.
However, I did hear that this method is particularly punishing on the machinery, due to the fact that weight is unbalanced most of the time, and it also increases the danger of clothing being stuck. The woes of super-crowded east asian urban life I guess.
I think it is a great idea, and escalators should be equipped this way all the time. You would not have to have each step painted. Every 5th step with a pair of feet, and two steps with one left and one right ought to suffice.
It should be an easy thing to do with a stencil and paint.