
Stop walking up escalators for better efficiency - strttn
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/16/the-tube-at-a-standstill-why-tfl-stopped-people-walking-up-the-escalators
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stegosaurus
This seems to rely on assuming that the average time taken is the metric to
optimize.

Imagine that you have 100 passengers, 25 of which aren't concerned with time
taken, 50 of which are indifferent, and 25 of which are concerned with time
taken.

With a 'walking lane', it seems to me that everyone is satisfied.

Without a walking lane, average speed improves, but those that would prefer to
walk are slowed down.

I can't speak for others but I personally find the system excellent. If I'm in
a rush, I can run up the stairs. If I'm not, I can chill.

I would generally be in favour of asking everyone to walk (as the below poster
mentions), but that can't be expected of everyone - the disabled, elderly,
children, those with suitcases, and likely other groups can't do that.

~~~
strttn
One could argue that this does help everyone when it's particularly busy
because it reduces the glut of people waiting to get on the bottom of the
escalator, which can slow you down even if you want to walk up.

I suppose from TFL's point of view, the average time take is exactly what they
want to optimise too because it everyone through the system quickest.

Personally, I really like walking and I guess I'd be a bit frustrated at not
being able to even if it was for the good of the whole. Or even for me
personally (time-wise)

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makecheck
Actually, they should have done the opposite: get _everyone_ to start walking
up and stop treating escalators as rides. (Especially horizontal moving
walkways.) Imagine the capacity then!

They're not rides. We have way, way, way, too many out-of-shape people in the
world. There should be every encouragement to take at least a few
opportunities to exercise.

Yes, some escalators can be long, such as the ones mentioned in this article.
Still not a big deal, I've done it. (And they only "feel" long when you stand
the whole way.) If you really want a ride, use an elevator.

~~~
strttn
People would need more space on the escalator to walk so this would reduce the
overall escalator capacity. There would also be some people who couldn't or
wouldn't walk, which would always break the double lane walking and revert the
system to how it is currently.

Agreed that they do present an opportunity to get a little exercise though,
which would be missed in the "everyone stand" world.

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MrQuincle
Interesting! I never thought about that, but it makes total sense.

I think people are always interested in a diversity of options though:

* Have two escalators, with one running with a much higher speed than the other.

* Go really crazy and install a slide: [http://newslite.tv/2010/06/28/slide-installed-for-berlin-sub...](http://newslite.tv/2010/06/28/slide-installed-for-berlin-sub.html)

The best world is to make public transport comfortable for both fragile people
and people in a hurry.

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sqldba
What I found interesting is that in Australia we do the opposite; stand left
and let people pass you on the right.

