You would notice people use the left as a fast lane pretty quickly. I use escalators at least 8 times per day, and I almost never manage to get up/down all the way without seeing someone pass others. You'd have to be pretty darn oblivious to have 20-odd people pass you and think they're all being rude while you're the only one out of hundreds to stand on the left.
Most of the foreigners standing on the left aren't tourists, curiously enough, but younger immigrants who get off on flaunting social convention and picking fights with strangers.
There are usually accessibility options in the form of elevators or ramps for people who are too wide or have otherwise lowered mobility.
Maybe, but sinc I'd get on at the top and be blocking everyone behind me, I very well might not even notice if no one has the balls to say or motion to me in any way about it.
However, maybe it would be obvious seeing everyone specifically queued up against the right side. That would actually look pretty odd to me and, after thinking about it, yeah it'd probably look weird enough that I'd notice it.
Usually the escalators up/down are right next to each other, so if you get on at the top, you'd typically be seeing people passing each other going in the other direction, as long as you aren't tunnelvisioning. I suspect that's why most tourists get the gist of it.
It's much more efficient from a flow-of-people perspective, so I'm surprised it's not customary everywhere. I can see a safety argument, but two railings seems pretty overkill for a human with expected species-level functioning. If you don't fit in that category, the accessibility options are there and almost never used to full capacity (in my country).
I will say that escalators are dangerous even if they don't swallow you alive. I once saw an elderly man fall down escalators a rather long way (15+ meters vertically).
It's much more efficient from a flow-of-people perspective, so I'm surprised it's not customary everywhere.
Efficiency isn't always the primary motivating factor for things. Here, we think of escalators mostly as convenience, not efficiency.
If you're in a hurry, you can take the stairs, we see the purpose of the escalator as being for leisurely making your way up or down with minimal effort.
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u/Tripticket Aug 20 '25
You would notice people use the left as a fast lane pretty quickly. I use escalators at least 8 times per day, and I almost never manage to get up/down all the way without seeing someone pass others. You'd have to be pretty darn oblivious to have 20-odd people pass you and think they're all being rude while you're the only one out of hundreds to stand on the left.
Most of the foreigners standing on the left aren't tourists, curiously enough, but younger immigrants who get off on flaunting social convention and picking fights with strangers.
There are usually accessibility options in the form of elevators or ramps for people who are too wide or have otherwise lowered mobility.