The TTC wants you to take a stand on its escalators

“Stand right, walk left” has fallen out of favour because of injuries, and at least one study suggests it doesn’t actually speed up foot traffic in subway stations.

Thestar.com
March 29, 2017
By Sammy Hudes

If there’s one thing that bugs Richard Pietro, it’s getting stuck behind people standing side-by-side on the escalators in Toronto’s subway stations.

“My biggest thing, more than anything else, is when there’s not a lot of people on an escalator and you know, two people (are) talking and then there’s one person that wants to go up and they’re actually blocking traffic,” said Pietro, who describes himself as an avid subway user. “It’s just frustrating.

“For me, it’s just basic etiquette.”

Beyond common courtesy, yielding to people who want to walk on escalators might seem like an easy way to help commuters get through the stations faster. You’d think the Toronto Transit Commission would be on his side.

But it’s not.

For the transit service, people who insist on walking up or down escalators actually pose a danger to themselves.

“We had seen some incidents of people slipping and falling on escalators,” TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said in an email.

“Our preference is that customers stand on escalators and, if they want to walk, they use the stairs.”

Many escalator users still observe an unspoken rule of standing on the right side and walking on the left. And once upon a time, the “stand right, walk left” rule wasn’t unspoken at all - there were signs in TTC stations telling commuters to do just that.

Those signs were taken down about 10 years ago, according to Green.

The TTC’s move was supported by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, a group responsible for regulating escalator safety in the province.

Statistics on the number of escalator-related injuries since the signs came down couldn’t immediately be provided, said Green.

But Karen Penafiel, executive director of National Elevator Industry Inc., which also promotes building transportation safety for escalators, said it’s always safer when riders stand in place holding onto a handrail.

Nonetheless, Penafiel said people tend to “follow the rules of the road,” which means this usually isn’t possible.

“What our industry recommends is standing where you’re able to, firmly holding the handrail and take control of any packages or any children you may have,” Penafiel said, “but certainly we know that people are busy and get impatient.”

The main danger in treating escalators as stairways is that escalator steps are slightly taller than traditional steps, said Patrick O’Connell, a spokesperson for escalator manufacturer Kone.

While regular steps are about seven inches (17.8 centimetres) high, escalator steps are typically 8.5 inches (21.6 centimetres).

“You might say to yourself, ‘Why does that matter?’” O’Connell said. “Psychologically, as well as instinctively, from the time that we are able to walk, we are trained in the first steps, probably of a home, to that seven inches. When you rise another inch and a half, it creates a bit of a tripping hazard.”

Toronto isn’t the only place where this one-time social norm has been under siege - although not necessarily for the same reason

In Washington and China, transit officials have asked users to stand still on escalators because walking on one side and standing on the other has caused damage over time.

Last year, a sixth-month study in the U.K. of one of London’s busiest subway stations, known as the Holborn escalator trial, tested how many people passed through standing-only escalators versus those where commuters could stand or walk.

It found that at peak commuting hours, escalators where riders were instructed to stand on both sides of the steps were more efficient.

O’Connell said Kone’s escalators are best maintained with one person standing per step. But he said he said those observing typical etiquette - walking on the left and standing on the right - shouldn’t lead to any damage.

“To my knowledge, that’s not creating any difference in terms of the wear-ability,” he said.