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The story
It’s a common sight at train stations and shopping facilities: people lined up on one side of an escalator while others walk up the other. The dangers of walking on escalators have long been flagged, and while railway companies once posted signs asking riders to “keep one side clear for those in a hurry,” the current trend is to discourage walking altogether. On the thread, opinions split — some said “don’t rip out the stairs if you want people to stop walking,” others pointed to Nagoya as a city that successfully ended the one-side-clear custom — and posters also disagreed over just how many accidents walking actually causes.
Delivered 7:00 AM, Monday 10/12
withnews by The Asahi Shimbun
At crowded escalators in train stations and shopping facilities, don’t you often see people standing on one side while others walk up the other? The standing side can turn into a long line, but the dangers of walking on escalators have been pointed out for some time. When we surveyed people on escalator etiquette, many said they “walk on the open side” when in a hurry.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Nagoya City actually pulled it off.
Given the Japanese national character, someone at the top has to make it an actual rule.
Japanese people have a strong 'ruled-over' mentality.
Well, keeping the right side open on moving walkways is still basically manners etiquette even today.
No such thing was ever written.
They've been telling people not to walk since 20 years ago.
These days most people just stand.
I remember station announcements back in the day saying 'Please stand and keep the right side of the escalator clear for those in a hurry.'
It's not the most reliable outlet, but AERA mentions it too, so I don't think I'm misremembering.
> But in the past, railway companies did recommend keeping one side clear as a matter of manners, and once a habit like that takes root, it doesn't change overnight.
https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/232279?page=2
If there were stairs, people wouldn't walk on the escalator.
isn't it becoming common to see the right side clear with nobody actually walking on it?
But if everyone stood two abreast, a walker might show up anyway,
so you end up stuck leaving it open regardless. Quite the dilemma.
There's no reason to give priority to someone who's breaking the rules.
The 'don't walk on escalators' campaign is itself about accident prevention, so whether one side happens to be clear or not isn't really the point.
Ah yeah, you see those at small supermarkets and stations —
the narrow single-file escalators.
Because it wears out the chain.
Because if there's an accident, people will sue claiming the facility failed on safety management, right?
Don't do it when you've been told to stop.
Well, there are spots — like the one by the gold clock at Nagoya Station — where there's only an escalator and no stairs at all.
I just don't want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some total stranger.
It's simply a sign of poor civic manners.
For students at least, isn't that still a solid go-to bit? The ones who were really good at it would even do it while spinning.
It's the same idea with escalators.
If you banned passing in every lane of the highway 'for safety,' it'd be a pain to use and everyone's stress levels would shoot up.
That's the rule, though.
Go ahead and stress yourself out over it, lol
So if you personally haven't heard of something, it doesn't exist?
Can't you even picture what happens when it makes an emergency stop?
Wait, really? Do walking-related escalator accidents actually happen that often?
I had no idea.
Yeah, they happen — you just don't know about it. It's in the news all the time.
Plenty of stair accidents happen too, you know.
Almost 100% of escalator accidents have nothing to do with walking.
Typical boomers — they walked on escalators when they were young, and now they just flip the script.
Silver democracy peaks in 2050, you know.
50% elderly
25% young people
25% foreigners
You middle-aged folks right now had better be nice to old people —
it's definitely coming back around on you.
Didn't the 25 years since 2001 fly by in a flash?
Another 25 years will go just as fast.
Use your imagination.
Background and key points of the debate
“Keeping one side clear” on escalators was once a custom promoted by some railway companies for riders in a hurry — it was never a legally mandated rule. But as the risks of falling while walking, or of accidents during emergency stops, have been pointed out, recent years have seen a shift toward discouraging walking altogether. Nagoya came up repeatedly in the thread because it’s known as one of the few places where a municipal-level effort to stop escalator walking actually succeeded. At the same time, posters disagreed over how many accidents walking really causes and whether solid statistics even exist, suggesting people’s sense of the danger varies a lot from person to person. Some also pointed out that certain facilities, due to limited space, have removed their stairs and kept only escalators — which may be one reason walkers haven’t disappeared.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Why do people walk on escalators? Being in a hurry, hating lines, exercise, not feeling it’s dangerous… personal accounts“.
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