Apartheid/Separate but equal.

[aussie_]

There is no need to block an escalator lane with or without luggage. After staying in Taipei many times and Hong Kong it annoys me greatly when I visit Thailand,Malaysia, Australia etc and the left lane is blocked.There should be a left lane police and fine the ignorant, inconsiderate escalator hogs But seriously is it so difficult not to block the left lane?

I try to book decent hotels to avoid problems with other guests. I am currently staying at Bandara Suites in Bangkok and there is a herd of Malaysian kids running around yelling in the hallways. I can hear them and their parents from their room at the other end of the building. The problem of inconsiderate people is increasing from my observations of full time travel the past two years.

[francois]

Can't say I ever saw any sign on an escalator advising people to stand to one side.Actually never seen anyone trying to walk/run down a moving escalator although have seen people running up one. Kind of like motorbikes and cars who must always be in front of the one in front of them and always end up at the same place within seconds. For me I have a death grip on both sides of the escalator moving hand rails. No one gets by me, besides that, I span one side to the other, no room to squeeze by. See avatar.

[scottish-guy]

Francois - you should travel on the London Underground - there are people running up and down the escalators all the time and signs telling you to stand to the side! It's quite common in the UK in general.

I have to say though that on a trip to Paris many years ago, we were standing at a street corner patiently waiting for the pedestrian signal to tell us to cross. Within about a second of the light finally changing a fat Frenchwoman barged us out of the way, loudly exclaiming "MARCHE!"

I'm not suggesting it might have been you just saying there is rude behaviour everywhere

[Nirish guy]

I've already said my piece about how I think it's simply unnecessary for someone to push past someone else on a 2.5ft wide moving escalator just to reach the same place that almost everyone else is going anyway and all just to ultimately usually reach the same train too so I won't bother going into that again ( plus I just don't like people shoving their way past me full stop in life).

But Francois is also right that aside from the arrogance and ban manners involved it IS an unsafe practice for others to shove past someone else on a moving escalator - (which IS very different to a much wider and flat slow moving travelator!) just to get to where THEY want to be, especially when the person they're forcing past might be trying to balance carry on hand luggage bag or god knows what else on the step above or below them, plus being British it's all just a bit bloody rude in my book, the very width of escalators tells you they were never designed or intended for overtaking or they would for sure have been made much wider and to use the reason "but we've always pushed past in the UK and there's even signs to say go ahead and do so" is no reason at all in my book.

I mentioned London Underground running tests on this subject and just in case some think I was joking or pulling facts out of the air to back up my view I wasn't, see the link below, where in a recent three week test london underground changed a complete tube station to "standing only" escalators and it reduced congestion by 30% ! That test is now being rolled out over a 6 month period to see do those figures repeat.

I would add if someone is gently walking down past me and causing me no annoyance I probably WOULD gently stand aside and let them pass whilst thinking to myself "there's someone in a hurry to go no where as as sure as hell I'm going to meet up with them on the platform again anyway", but those that bluster and push and shout 'EXCUSE me" in an intimidatory manner can quite frankly both wait and or go fuck themselves as they so prefer in my book, especially on short escalators as to me it just stinks of "my time is more valuable that yours now get out of my way" and my reply to that would be "no, they can just wait and learn some patience". Actually now that I think of it they should actually THANK me for reminding them to take a moment to relax and realise their farts stink just like everyone else's and that they're really NOT any more important than anyone else - I'm sure those that push past will TOTALLY agree with all of that ! :-)

Opps, nearly forgot - here's the London Underground link.....

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/pr...n-starts-today

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/...london/424950/

[fountainhall]

I mentioned London Underground running tests on this subject and just in case some think I was joking or pulling facts out of the air to back up my view I wasn't, see the link below, where in a recent three week test london underground changed a complete tube station to "standing only" escalators and it reduced congestion by 30%

I certainly do not think you are joking! But an escalator in a tube station is quite different from one in, say, a large department store. Tube trains have to run to a specific timetable. In the London rush hour the small platforms get packed very quickly. It therefore makes a great deal of sense for the managers to have a greater control over the flow of passengers. Preventing people rushing would be part of that strategy. Rather similar to the traffic light controls from suburbs into a large, traffic-clogged city. These are often programmed to ensure the general traffic flow slows down as it gets nearer the city centre/s.

I am currently staying at Bandara Suites in Bangkok and there is a herd of Malaysian kids running around yelling in the hallways.

Manners in many hotels have definitely deteriorated. Two Taipei hotels I stay in have signs by the lifts requesting silence as a consideration to other guests. That is at least a start, although it doesn't always work. I believe all hotels should give every guest a notice at check-in reminding them that rooms in hotels are rarely soundproof, that some guests sleep or nap during the daytime and all guests should regard the corridors in a hotel as a quiet area. They are not like hotel lobbies!

[Moses]

There is a significant difference between escalators which move people vertically and moving walkways which move horizontally. I understand and follow the protocol on moving walkways by standing to the side designated for standees. But never heard or knew there was a similar protocol for escalators. There are good reasons for not having such a rule.
For instance, in transportation hubs many persons have luggage with them which makes it difficult when on an escalator whereby the luggage may be next to you, in back of you or in front of you. To have someone try to squeeze by creates a hazard by dislodging the luggage.
Secondly the steps on escalators are not meant for walking but for standing. The thread to rise ratio is not the same as for stairs which is why stopped escalators feel odd when walking up or down them. People trying to walk down an escalator are putting themselves (and everyone else) at risk due to chance of a misstep and falling especially when in a rush.
So, my 2 Bahts worth of comment.

Can't say I ever saw any sign on an escalator advising people to stand to one side.Actually never seen anyone trying to walk/run down a moving escalator although have seen people running up one. Kind of like motorbikes and cars who must always be in front of the one in front of them and always end up at the same place within seconds. For me I have a death grip on both sides of the escalator moving hand rails. No one gets by me, besides that, I span one side to the other, no room to squeeze by. See avatar.

Rules of metro in Moscow directly demand to stay on right and to walk on left side of escalator:

2.6. Находясь на эскалаторе, необходимо стоять справа, лицом по направлению его движения, проходить с левой стороны, держась за поручень, не наступать на ограничительную линию на ступенях, не прислоняться к неподвижным частям, держать малолетних детей на руках или за руку, не задерживаться при сходе с эскалатора.

Full text is here (rus) http://mosmetro.ru/info/

translation with Google:

2.6. On the escalator, you must stand on the right, facing the direction of its movement, to pass on the left side, holding the handrail, do not step on the boundary line on the steps, do not lean against the fixed parts, to keep young children in her arms or hand, not to linger at the gathering the escalator.

Most of escalators here are over 100m lenght, so just by walking you can cut time on escalator twice or triple (normal speed of escalators is 0.5-0.75 m/sec) - from 2-3 min to 1 one min. At rush hours trains are going here each 75-90 sec.

[arsenal]

Moses: No, it is not the same in China. It's each person doing what they like. That's what I mean by zero empathy. A total non recognition that other people are even around.

[fountainhall]

The apartheid has already started - at least in Switzerland. The famous Rigi Railways has finally had enough as the following article from a Chinese site makes clear -

Although destination countries welcome the money spent by Chinese travelers, locals often can’t stand the chaos and hassle some Chinese tourists bring to their countries. They consider them to be loud, rude, pushy, and all over the place. Such is the case in Switzerland, visited by one million Chinese tourists every year. Locals and Swiss tourists often feel harassed by the Chinese, Heute reports, especially on the famous Rigi Railways. Chinese tourists are said to be “loud and rude”, and they “spit on the floor”. Their misbehavior has lead Rigi Railways to take special measures: since August there are extra trains for ‘Asian tourists’, and from September extra ones for ‘international guests’. There are also special signs on the toilet explaining tourists how (not) to use the toilet, according to Heute.

http://www.whatsonweibo.com/too-loud-too-rude-switzerland-introduces-separate-trains-for-chinese-tourists/

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The toilet issue also resulted in a ban on Chinese tourists from Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Mai. The ban was lifted only after tour guides agreed to clean up toilets before groups departed! As the article point out, though, increasingly more and more Chinese tourists are realising that such bad behaviour reflects badly on them and China.

[arsenal]

The story above is just the beginning. Oh yes and btw. Anyone who says the America is still the only superpower is not living in the real geo-political world. There are two now.

[christianpfc]

What an interesting discussion about escalator etiquette!

All escalators I have seen have enough space for one person to stand (with luggage on steps above or below if necessary) and one person to walk past (unless one of them is grossly overweight). If possible, I walk on an escalator (the steps might be slightly different from stairs, no problem at all; even then change of hight at the bottom and top cause no problem for me). If people block the way, I decide whether I ask to pass or stand behind them (shoving past is impolite by my standards).

But the most fascinating insight is that "stand right, walk left" seems to be worldwide, even in countries that drive on the left (and overtake on the right).

No thread about escalator etiquette should be without a warning not to enter an escalator on wheelchairs:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF60HxYiR-M