I know the feeling! It's so annoying when people don't know to stand to one side of escalator and they take up the whole thing. It's five times more annoying when it's an airport escalator and you just got done waiting in line for an hour and then being molested by airport security.
The DC Metro actually had "Stand to the right" signs many years ago, but they all disappeared one day.
Local legend has it that someone with a medical condition who couldn't stand right got tired of being berated by other passengers who would point to the signs as justification. This person raised the issue and Metro responded by removing the signs.
Given what I know of the system, it certainly seems plausible, but I think it a bit more likely that the signs were an unchecked code violation [0] from the start rather than their removal a knee-jerk reaction to an upset customer. Not to say that knee-jerk reactions would be out of character for them.
Apparently, there has been discussion about bringing the signs back [0].
>"That's only if the escalator isn't under repair."
Are you in DC? Metro is notorious for out of service escalators, but they do have more than any other transit system in North America [0] and they can be quite long/deep [1].
">I always take the staircase to/from the entrance."
Depending on the station/situation, that might not be an option.
> Metro is notorious for out of service escalators,
That's what I meant. And unless i'm mistaken, most (if not all) stations have stairs for the street-level escalators, at one of the station's entrances.
The funny thing is the initial escalators aren't an issue; people hear you clanking your way down the escalator and they'll usually turn around and get out of your way. It's the stairs from the ticket gates to the trains where people decide to become sloths, and when there are stairs there I take them. (I seem to recall that being intermittent as well...)
This article makes me think the answer might be "yes" more often than I'd imagined.