Why You Shouldn’t Walk on Escalators<br />The question of standing versus walking flared up recently in Washington, D.C., after the general manager of the Metro, Paul Wiedefeld, said the practice of walking on the left<br />and standing to the right — as outlined in the Metro’s rules and manners — could damage the escalator.<br />However, the "time in system" — or how long it took to stand in line to reach an escalator then<br />ride it — dropped sharply when everyone stood, according to a blog post by the researchers.<br />Jeanine L. Skorinko, a professor of psychology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., said in an email<br />that people, especially Americans, like to keep more distance between themselves and strangers "and would rather take the stair below them or walk past them.<br />To change passengers’ behaviors and get them to stand side by side riding — not walking — during peak periods.<br />They found that walking up the escalator took 26 seconds compared with standing, which took 40 seconds.<br />The Underground campaigned to fill the available space on the escalators with people, rather than<br />leaving the left side of each step largely empty, except for those who chose to hike up.
