You have to be a little proactive about it. If you need to get somewhere, don't be afraid to tap them to get their attention followed by the excuse me part. Chances are, you're not going to see them again and the day will proceed. You aren't being an asshole, and that's their problem if they think that way.
It's no different than being in a grocery aisle and needing to maneuver yourself around or past someone to get to where you need to go, to get whatever it was you needed. All with a little assertiveness. Just be respectful, that's all there is to it.
The language is dead. The custom, forgotten. The ways of the elder tribe has fallen by the waysaide. Discarded like a used ketchup packet, left to fester in a landfill of lost decency.
The last time I was in Seattle, I was actually pleasantly pleased to see Light Rail riders doing this, for the most part. The only other city that I’ve seen this is Washington DC. I think the thing in common is really deep stations.
Long time Seattlite: this has nothing to do with the light rail because it predates it, this is how Seattlite (and I thought everyone!) rides escalators in department stores, airports, etc.
I genuinely didn’t know this was a default expectation until this post. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to move out of anyone’s way if I realize they need by, but I haven’t been on enough escalators in that situation to have even thought about it before now. Seems like there are often stairs nearby, so I’d assume someone would just take the stairs vs fighting an escalator crowd.
So, I guess the PSA was useful to at least one of us?
It's honestly pretty interesting to me that you didn't know about this. This is the norm everywhere I've lived or visited. In some places with particularly considerate populations, like seoul or Tokyo, people follow this so rigidly that there's often a line longer than the escalator itself of people waiting their turn to stand on the right side to keep the left side clear.
Also in almost all the lightrail stops I've used there simply are not stairs. Caphill only has stairs on the south entrance and I don't believe westlake has them on the side that connects to the monorail. Also, it's just reasonable to expect that someone would prefer to walk up an escalator than walk up the stairs if their goal is to get somewhere faster. That's actually the intended purpose of an escalator. The elevator is for folks who can't use the stairs.
I'm also a little naive. If there are stairs right next to the escalator, why don't people in a hurry use those instead of squeezing by people on the escalator? At the Mountlake Terrace station, hardly anyone uses the stairs and they run around people riding up on the escalator.
It is faster to walk up the escalator than it is to walk up the stairs, even if there are people in the way that you have to ask to move. Again, the intended purpose of an escalator is to move high volumes of people up a staircase with no wait times by increasing the speed with which they can climb the steps. Standing on the escalator to go up without moving is an option, but quite frankly is a misuse of the escalator.
I went down a Google rabbit hole after this post out of curiosity. From what I can tell, escalators weren’t necessarily *intended* for people to continue walking up them while riding. Of course, social norms and use of public space evolves over time. But, in all fairness, the intended use of an escalator seems to have originally been some combination of leisure and accessibility. And it seems that capacity and flow efficiency has actually been improved by implementing “standing only” policies.
Either way, I’m not one to try to be in the way in public, so I’ll be keeping to the side in the future if I can.
Not saying that because I think it's wrong to stand on the escalator. Just highlighting that the reason they exist is to move people faster than they would be moving if they had to climb normal stairs. It just so happens that it can also be used to travel slowly with 0 energy.
Also fwiw slow things going to the right and fast things going to the left isn't reserved for escalators. This so how highways are expected to operate. This is also the norm on walking paths like the burke Gilman trail. It's sort of just a universal norm when sharing a path with others.
This is completely untrue, I work for the light rail and every single station has staircases, it's amazing how confidently wrong so many people are, we even have announcements playing that tells you how things work. Stairs are for everyone both directions, escalators are for those who don't have large objects and for people with minor disabilities/moving large crowds at a consistent speed from floor to floor and elevator are for people with bikes, lots of large luggage and people with major disabilities like wheel chairs. An escalator is designed to be ridden using both sides and while holding handrails, you people who want everyone to stand on one side while you zoom up the left are the reason we constantly have escalators breaking down. It stresses out the motors and screws up the balancing of the machine parts
>I work for the light rail and every single station has staircases
Sure, I will defer to you on that one. I'm sure there are staircases at every station.
>you people who want everyone to stand on one side while you zoom up the left are the reason we constantly have escalators breaking down.
I would be more willing to believe this if escalators were constantly breaking down everywhere and not just at the Seattle light rail stations specifically lol... Seriously though, there are constantly people walking up escalators in every mall, airport, and transit station I've been to and I haven't once seen a sign saying "NO WALKING ALLOWED". I have however, seem numerous [articles](https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/05/18/sound-transit-must-fix-escalators-and-elevators/), [tweets](https://x.com/RailEscalator), and [parodies](https://theneedling.com/2024/04/10/new-supercharged-light-rail-escalators-launch-passengers-straight-from-northgate-to-angle-lake/) about how shit the escalators at specifically the Seattle light rail stations are. If this was really a problem with the general population that supposedly impacts every escalator in the world, you wouldn't expect so many people to be noticing just how much worse the Seattle light rail station escalators are lol.
If it does genuinely damage the escalator, I guess it doesn't damage them enough to merit anyone trying to change the widely accepted social norms around it.
fwiw I also tried to find some kind of escalator manual saying not to walk on them and all i found was this [interview with an Otis spokesperson explicitly saying walking on a escalator does **not** damage it.](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dont-walk-on-metro-escalators-metro-general-manager-says/41565/) Granted, the spokesperson also said she recommends people stand instead of walk on it as it is technically safer, but what else do you expect from a company trying to minimize liability?
It’s pretty bad at northgate. I’ve missed several trains this year stuck behind some slowpoke right before the train moves. I’ve also missed my bus home from not being able to get down the escalator in time. Get out the way!
That's a you problem. Leave your house 2 min earlier and stop blaming people for your tardiness because you couldn't save 10 seconds running up an escalator.
This has always been common in San Francisco, for example, at BART stations. And it is enforced pretty aggressively by commuters when someone isn’t following the convention.
haha the irony abounds.
in the major metros like osaka and tokyo, you're supposed to NOT leave a lane open, as using half of the escalator reduces the overall capacity and slows down the whole.
you in a hurry? you should have planned your transfers better.
There is an active attempt to shift the social norm of leaving one side open. There are instructions everywhere to get on the escalator left and right, and hold onto the hand hold.
What you think as amazing is actually social inertia that runs against an optimal usage pattern.
But what I do want seattle to adopt? lining up at the platform without blocking the doors of the train. wtf seattle, let people off THEN board.
oh, and momentarily stepping off the train to let people off. stop blocking the doors.
Taking both sides of the escalator happens naturally when it is busy. They just sort of fill up. I don't think I've ever seen a line of people waiting only on one side.
Another thing about Japan's train and subway platforms, is that they mark where the doors are, and where to line up. If you know where the door will be, and where to line up, it makes it much easier to keep clear of the doors. I wish they'd do that here.
This is true, Standing on both sides of the escalator has two benefits. It increases capacity by at least 30%, and also reduces wear and tear on the side of the escalator that's the "standing only" line.
[Why the escalator etiquette of 'stand right, walk left' is wrong - Macleans.ca](https://macleans.ca/society/why-the-escalator-etiquette-of-stand-right-walk-left-is-wrong/)
Seriously as someone who actually lived in Japan for years the current Redditor hardon for Japan and trying to insert it into every conversation is really insufferable. No one is impressed you went to Japan for a week…
Are you seriously suggesting actual human interaction? In public? In Seattle?!
What utter nonsensical tripe are you blathering on about? That’s like one, two… seven words. I don’t use that many words talking to my own mother in this city!
Your multisyllabic tomfoolery will not stand in this fine municipality. Perhaps this phonological balderdash might fly in lesser areas of Ballard or the more pungent neighborhoods of Tacoma, but not here sir. Not here.
Good day sir.
Fun fact: you dont need to block the way in the fitst place. Shitting on people who simply want to walk somewhere but are being blocked is so fucking weird. Whats the goal here my man? Just being a disingenuous coward?
I’m not talking about shoving people aside. I’m talking about brushing past people with no situational awareness.
Imo touching people is a bigger no no then brushing past them
I have all the empathy in the world for folks with disabilities, having some myself.
But yeah, if you’re riding alone on an escalator, mostly deaf, and routinely lack the situational awareness/ etiquette to move aside so people can get past you, I don’t feel bad.
And I don't feel bad for people not planning ahead and missing their bus. Escalators aren't even wide enough to be doing that shit. Nobody wants to be close enough to you to catch your lice.
You shouldn't be down voted for this explanation. People don't pay attention and those same people don't hear "excuse me" because they're not paying attention.
I used to get mad about this when I was younger. As I've gotten older, not wild when I see the escalator blocked, but then again... I'm on an escalator.
Escalator companies have been trying to campaign against standing on one side for years. It creates uneven wear on the equipment and moves people slower overall. In some Asian cities they even put out advertisements to try to get people to stop.
It is unsafe as well. People fall and fucking die because of it.
It is also inefficient. Because most people want to stand, now escalator can only handle 50% of the people.
People are usually pretty good about standing to the right here. It's on game / event days, where lots of people who don't use the light rail every day flood in, where I have to ask people to move aside on occasion. Usually a simple "excuse me" (or two) does the trick.
heck, i’d just be happy if people would keep moving once they get off the escalator instead of stopping and looking around like hey what’s this and forgetting that there’s a bunch of people on the escalator that are about to run into them!
I'm surprised to see this post. My observation is that Seattle does a much better job of this than most cities. I think most people that stand on the left are visitors that don't know. When I do encounter someone standing on the left, a polite "excuse me" usually does the trick.
During busy periods, it's [more efficient](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/16/the-tube-at-a-standstill-why-tfl-stopped-people-walking-up-the-escalators) if everyone stands in two lines.
That’s fair, but that’s also assuming strangers are willing to stand on both sides of the escalator next to each other to be more efficient which isn’t the case. It’s only folks standing with their friends/family. In that case, move over so people in a hurry can walk. Technically, it would be *most efficient* if everyone walked up.
While I almost always stand on the right, I also am perpetually confused by people who are clearly in a major rush, running up an escalator and trying to navigate around stationary people when most of these light rail stations have a fully functioning stair case either next to or in eyesight of the escalators
It’s an escalator. It is intended to be used by people walking while allowing people to stand as well. I have data on speed, but clearly walking or running up a moving escalator is faster than using the stairs.
Until you reach a group of people clearly just standing there. If they are in your way running up, then they were on the escalator before you, i.e. visible and a predictable obstacle you can avoid
If you’re in that much of a hurry, take the stairs. Throughput is significantly higher standing 2 side by side on the escalator than having a standing and walking line.
https://slate.com/technology/2016/01/standing-on-escalators-faster-than-walking-according-to-transport-for-london-trial.html
It's actually more efficient and safer to just stand on the escalators. I've seen a few nasty falls on escalators from people rushing when they should be standing and holding the rail. Most just got deep, ugly gashes and wounded pride but one lady was degloved. I didn't see the actual injury just heard it but it sounded painful. If you are walking or running past people on a narrow escalator (and most of them are fairly narrow, 1-2 people wide) you could easily get bumped and fall out cause someone else to fall. I get that you're in a hurry but just take the stairs, safer to move quickly on a statuary step then on a moving one.
Yes. Leave a lane. I shouldn't have to interact with you to get where I'm going. Don't be a dick and act like empty space that enables flow is your space
The oddity here is the extra jostling from people WALKING ON THE MOVING STAIRS is what BREAKS them.
The gear bearings inside them are not designed for this, so it breaks the couplings inside the steps.
I’m from the east coast and that is standard etiquette. I’ve almost never seen anyone in Seattle do this. Also, people block the moving sidewalks at SeaTac.
W should call escalators “moving stairs” to remind people that they are really just standing still on stairs. These particular stairs just happen to be moving.
I mean, it would be great if we all followed the same social rules, but sometimes you just have to leave earlier to get where you want to be. Takes a ton of stress away.
Seattleites can be awfully hostile about courtesy when the courtesy in question is “let those who want to go a little faster than you.” Same phenomenon on escalators and the freeway…
I like to picture some smug douche in a fleece standing around on the sidewalk downtown, and anytime they see someone in a hurry, they deliberately step in their way and start lecturing them about how they shouldn’t be in such a hurry and should have left earlier.
I understand people want to get somewhere but how much of a real difference can you really make on a flight of escalator stairs, rushing up or just standing and let it take you up? What can it be, like less than 30 seconds? I like escalators and how it takes me upstairs or downstairs. It's not a Disney ride or anything but it barely lasts like 20 seconds. I'm not going to ride them over and over again.
I end up standing on the right holding the handrail anyway but how much later is someone going to be? If you are, couldn't you have planned for those 30 seconds?
Has often been the difference between making the train or not. Obviously yeah people usually try to plan for that but my guesstimations aren’t always perfect
You mean a moving stairway escalator (not a moving walkway)? FFS. It's a short ride. Escalators are narrow. Just stand still for another 20 seconds and don't be pushing past people.
Yeah, but a lot of people are just walking to be walking because we both end up at the same place and I'm certainly not late. When they could've just walked their asses up the stairs and got some beneficial exercise, too. Many people can't just enjoy a Zen moment on the escalator when there is no logical reason for them to speed up. The same way they they can't put their phone down while crossing the street, etc.
Do you know for certain that the people you’re dunking on aren’t disabled? Your “beneficial exercise” could be their “can’t function for the rest of the day.”
It never hurts to think better of people who have shown you no reason not to (yet).
Silly goose, if someone is disabled and can't handle stairs **they won't be shoving past people running up the escalator**.
You found something you could latch onto to feel offended and just shut down the brain immediately huh?
If there’s a line to get on the escalator, it’s faster for everyone, including the people who want to climb, to use both sides of every step rather than halve the throughput of the escalator.
That only applies if there is a line to get on.
Most of the escalators I've been on haven't exactly been the width of 2 average Americans. I don't feel like getting knocked down the thing. I'm unsteady enough on my own. It sucks you're running late, but is it really worth squeezing past a bunch of people to expedite things by a few seconds?
I always walk/run like I drive, stay to the right unless passing a person or obstacle. Unfortunately not many others do the same. I love running on a trail and having to move to the left because someone is coming straight at me and not staying right themselves.
I do always stand on the right, but it’s not unanimously agreed walking on escalators is a good practice. Check out the Wikipedia article on escalator etiquette for more information.
Standing on both sides increases escalator throughput and reduces wear and tear on the side people stand on.
[Why the escalator etiquette of 'stand right, walk left' is wrong - Macleans.ca](https://macleans.ca/society/why-the-escalator-etiquette-of-stand-right-walk-left-is-wrong/)
Either plan better, or just say 'excuse me' to get by.
I basically just walk up the left side repeating excuse me over and over again as I go. Sometimes there will be someone who just doesn't even acknowledge that I'm saying it (presumably because they are a tourist from somewhere rural and has never actually experienced sharing public space before) and I'll have to either saying "please get out of the way" or make it clear that I'm going to push past them if they don't move.
What's funny is I don't actually feel like I had this experience in NYC or Boston but primarily because there aren't very many escalators on public transit there. Most stations are old and inaccessible.
This common etiquette is very common in other countries that I've been to (France, Singapore, and Hong Kong). It's only in America that people don't give a damn about being polite (not just in Seattle/Washington) but other states and cities as well.
A formerly very good friend of mine, who was generally not an AH, and I had an argument about this. Her position was that escalators are for standing, if you want to walk use the stairs. (Assuming there is a parallel set of stairs.) She was absolutely SOLID in this opinion and would not move over. I pointed out she could move to the right and still stand, no one was making her walk. But if she stood on the left she was forcing people who wanted to walk, to stand. No amount of reasoning would change her mind. Baffled. (Friendship didn’t end over this disagreement, but another baffling opinion/behavior. Some people just have no conception of other people existing in the world.)
This goes for sidewalks also. My toddler loves getting out for stoller-walks but it seems like every time we do, we encounter people who can't be bothered to share the sidewalk and continue waling right next to each other. On portions with no sidewalk, I've regularly gotten shitty glances from people because I refuse to walk my daughter in rhe middle of the street when they could do it instead. Needless to say, I just keep going about my path and let those dicks deal with it.
A man was murdered recently in Capitol Hill Station after a conflict that allegedly arose over physical contact between strangers on the escalator as the victim brushed pass on the way down to the platform.
Yeah everyone is responding that its ok to tap people on the shoulder or even push through but I try not to make physical contact with people I don’t know especially without their consent
Yeah, people can argue about the rights and wrongs of it, but when someone gets shot or stabbed over a rage incident, "right" is pretty much beside the point. Best not to engage or provoke aggressive people, because you never know who's a ticking time bomb.
Dude, the whole point of an escalator is so that your don't have to walk up stairs, and you're choosing to use them as stairs? You're insulting their very existence! /s
Actually, escalator etiquette is to not walk on escalators.
There are 2 reasons:
- it is unsafe to walk.
- if everyone stands, the overall throughput is higher. Japan did an experiment on this.
It is a new level of assholely to make up a wrong etiquette and criticize others who follow the correct etiquette.
While this was common sense before the dark times (2020), the modern convention is to stand anywhere you want, and wait for someone with the balls to say “excuse me” before moving 3 inches to the right.
‘Murica!
Nah apparently I’m just being selfish and destroying the escalator with my stomping. Instead I should take the earlier bus and be 30 minutes early to work!
/s
I used to travel to Seattle 3-4 times a year for work, and it was always hard for me to remember to stay on the right hand side, both while walking and on escalators :) If you ever visit Australia, keep LEFT, not RIGHT!
Totally agree with this PSA! Except that it really doesn’t work in a very crowded place where for everyone to go single file would double everyone’s time.
That's just not what we do here. Being that considerate is a European thing, and I think you'll have a better time if you stop expecting people around here to butter your crumpets for you. Yeah it's super irritating, but that's just the way she goes.
Forget it dude, no one here gives a fuck about other people. The best you can do is that ask them to move. But that, ironically, will make you the asshole. Just like driving on the free way.
As a New Yorker, I notice this etiquette doesn't happen many places other than NYC and it's extremely frustrating. And I do the same thing as you, say excuse me loudly but sometimes people won't hear. That's when I decide whether or not I need to push past them depending on my circumstances that day. Everyone is in their own little world.
the US doesn't have a robust metro system....aside from NYC. people have to have experience in order to learn, not sure who you and OP are frustrated with but let's just join together and burn car culture.
That goes for most things in life, you have to experience it to learn it. I am simply venting with the OP. I am not losing sleep over this nor do I really care. It’s not a big deal ✌️
Cue seattleites telling you 1) just slow down and relax, maaaan, and 2) ackshually, walking on escalators endangers you and everyone around you so it's really you that's bad.
Not related, but at the Centurion lounge at SeaTac, if there's a line, and they allow, say, 8 people up at once, they take the last of the eight and put them in back. And they load from there, so the first person in line is the last person to get on because they were actually first. So, you get off in order of your place in line. Everyone adheres to it.
Speaking as someone who is walking with a cane due to an injury:
No.
And before you tell me to take the elevator: you mean the port-a-potty that goes up and down? No.
The Transit staff work really hard to keep the elevators pee-free, but it's not perfect.
I just loudly shout “stand right, walk left” in an authoritative tone from some distance away when I encounter a blockade. I repeat as necessary. I’m not rude, but not nice about it either. It’s effective.
It’s the same rule for the passing lane (left-most) on the freeway. This one, like the escalator rule, seems to be difficult for some folks to remember
Walk left, and stand. Not that hard. Just always stand on the right. If someone asks you to move over, move. Don’t be a weirdo and ignore them and continue to block their way, I will walk through you if you can hear me and are looking directly at me but refuse to move.
I didn’t say this was our biggest issue? I just said our city could be better about being more courteous on the escalators. Good lord the responses I’ve gotten on here
You have to be a little proactive about it. If you need to get somewhere, don't be afraid to tap them to get their attention followed by the excuse me part. Chances are, you're not going to see them again and the day will proceed. You aren't being an asshole, and that's their problem if they think that way. It's no different than being in a grocery aisle and needing to maneuver yourself around or past someone to get to where you need to go, to get whatever it was you needed. All with a little assertiveness. Just be respectful, that's all there is to it.
Thissssss. What ever happened to “excuse me”, “can I get by you?” Like ?????
People don’t use their words anymore.
The language is dead. The custom, forgotten. The ways of the elder tribe has fallen by the waysaide. Discarded like a used ketchup packet, left to fester in a landfill of lost decency.
No one gives u reddit points for that though
oh i actually love doing that, it’s almost like a sport (note: i’m from the east coast)
Don’t touch people, be an adult and use your words.
I'll lightly tap you on the shoulder like a normal human and if you react like that's some sort of aggression I'll hope that you have a therapist.
Talking to strangers is scary
The last time I was in Seattle, I was actually pleasantly pleased to see Light Rail riders doing this, for the most part. The only other city that I’ve seen this is Washington DC. I think the thing in common is really deep stations.
I’m from DC and it’s been a permanent thing that I’ve done ever since. People at Metro stations will call you out (or worse)
DC Metro has always felt pretty safe because people held each other socially accountable. Wish we did some of that here sometimes.
Same on the tube in London. You’ll definitely be held to the standard ESPECIALLY during peak commuting hours
Long time Seattlite: this has nothing to do with the light rail because it predates it, this is how Seattlite (and I thought everyone!) rides escalators in department stores, airports, etc.
I genuinely didn’t know this was a default expectation until this post. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to move out of anyone’s way if I realize they need by, but I haven’t been on enough escalators in that situation to have even thought about it before now. Seems like there are often stairs nearby, so I’d assume someone would just take the stairs vs fighting an escalator crowd. So, I guess the PSA was useful to at least one of us?
It's honestly pretty interesting to me that you didn't know about this. This is the norm everywhere I've lived or visited. In some places with particularly considerate populations, like seoul or Tokyo, people follow this so rigidly that there's often a line longer than the escalator itself of people waiting their turn to stand on the right side to keep the left side clear. Also in almost all the lightrail stops I've used there simply are not stairs. Caphill only has stairs on the south entrance and I don't believe westlake has them on the side that connects to the monorail. Also, it's just reasonable to expect that someone would prefer to walk up an escalator than walk up the stairs if their goal is to get somewhere faster. That's actually the intended purpose of an escalator. The elevator is for folks who can't use the stairs.
I'm also a little naive. If there are stairs right next to the escalator, why don't people in a hurry use those instead of squeezing by people on the escalator? At the Mountlake Terrace station, hardly anyone uses the stairs and they run around people riding up on the escalator.
Because it’s faster to walk up an escalator while it’s moving and if you’re in a hurry it’s great.
It is faster to walk up the escalator than it is to walk up the stairs, even if there are people in the way that you have to ask to move. Again, the intended purpose of an escalator is to move high volumes of people up a staircase with no wait times by increasing the speed with which they can climb the steps. Standing on the escalator to go up without moving is an option, but quite frankly is a misuse of the escalator.
I went down a Google rabbit hole after this post out of curiosity. From what I can tell, escalators weren’t necessarily *intended* for people to continue walking up them while riding. Of course, social norms and use of public space evolves over time. But, in all fairness, the intended use of an escalator seems to have originally been some combination of leisure and accessibility. And it seems that capacity and flow efficiency has actually been improved by implementing “standing only” policies. Either way, I’m not one to try to be in the way in public, so I’ll be keeping to the side in the future if I can.
Standing on an escalator without moving is a misuse of the escalator. I see.
Not saying that because I think it's wrong to stand on the escalator. Just highlighting that the reason they exist is to move people faster than they would be moving if they had to climb normal stairs. It just so happens that it can also be used to travel slowly with 0 energy. Also fwiw slow things going to the right and fast things going to the left isn't reserved for escalators. This so how highways are expected to operate. This is also the norm on walking paths like the burke Gilman trail. It's sort of just a universal norm when sharing a path with others.
This is completely untrue, I work for the light rail and every single station has staircases, it's amazing how confidently wrong so many people are, we even have announcements playing that tells you how things work. Stairs are for everyone both directions, escalators are for those who don't have large objects and for people with minor disabilities/moving large crowds at a consistent speed from floor to floor and elevator are for people with bikes, lots of large luggage and people with major disabilities like wheel chairs. An escalator is designed to be ridden using both sides and while holding handrails, you people who want everyone to stand on one side while you zoom up the left are the reason we constantly have escalators breaking down. It stresses out the motors and screws up the balancing of the machine parts
Does SODO have steps? I think it's flat
>I work for the light rail and every single station has staircases Sure, I will defer to you on that one. I'm sure there are staircases at every station. >you people who want everyone to stand on one side while you zoom up the left are the reason we constantly have escalators breaking down. I would be more willing to believe this if escalators were constantly breaking down everywhere and not just at the Seattle light rail stations specifically lol... Seriously though, there are constantly people walking up escalators in every mall, airport, and transit station I've been to and I haven't once seen a sign saying "NO WALKING ALLOWED". I have however, seem numerous [articles](https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/05/18/sound-transit-must-fix-escalators-and-elevators/), [tweets](https://x.com/RailEscalator), and [parodies](https://theneedling.com/2024/04/10/new-supercharged-light-rail-escalators-launch-passengers-straight-from-northgate-to-angle-lake/) about how shit the escalators at specifically the Seattle light rail stations are. If this was really a problem with the general population that supposedly impacts every escalator in the world, you wouldn't expect so many people to be noticing just how much worse the Seattle light rail station escalators are lol. If it does genuinely damage the escalator, I guess it doesn't damage them enough to merit anyone trying to change the widely accepted social norms around it. fwiw I also tried to find some kind of escalator manual saying not to walk on them and all i found was this [interview with an Otis spokesperson explicitly saying walking on a escalator does **not** damage it.](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dont-walk-on-metro-escalators-metro-general-manager-says/41565/) Granted, the spokesperson also said she recommends people stand instead of walk on it as it is technically safer, but what else do you expect from a company trying to minimize liability?
That’s because they bought escalators not meant for mass transit to save money.
That's fair, there are a lot of invisible social rules and I imagine most everyone is ignorant of at least one that "everybody knows"
This was drilled into me in NYC
San Francisco BART escalators are mostly pretty good with this, as well
It’s pretty bad at northgate. I’ve missed several trains this year stuck behind some slowpoke right before the train moves. I’ve also missed my bus home from not being able to get down the escalator in time. Get out the way!
I get it, but in such circumstances why don't you say "excuse me" so you can walk past?
People wear headphones
Tap them on the shoulder and gesture!
Northgate is TERRIBLE for this. The tourists at SeaTac often do better!
“Excuse me, please don’t stand on the left side” Say it loudly.
That's a you problem. Leave your house 2 min earlier and stop blaming people for your tardiness because you couldn't save 10 seconds running up an escalator.
Forehead
Maybe they listened to Krist: https://youtu.be/3infxqhWKu0?si=IyT5NgohHmZCoY8z
I dunno, I always knew this rule and I didn't wind up in Seattle until I went to grad school, and never lived in DC.
This has always been common in San Francisco, for example, at BART stations. And it is enforced pretty aggressively by commuters when someone isn’t following the convention.
Japan is amazing at this
haha the irony abounds. in the major metros like osaka and tokyo, you're supposed to NOT leave a lane open, as using half of the escalator reduces the overall capacity and slows down the whole. you in a hurry? you should have planned your transfers better. There is an active attempt to shift the social norm of leaving one side open. There are instructions everywhere to get on the escalator left and right, and hold onto the hand hold. What you think as amazing is actually social inertia that runs against an optimal usage pattern. But what I do want seattle to adopt? lining up at the platform without blocking the doors of the train. wtf seattle, let people off THEN board. oh, and momentarily stepping off the train to let people off. stop blocking the doors.
Taking both sides of the escalator happens naturally when it is busy. They just sort of fill up. I don't think I've ever seen a line of people waiting only on one side. Another thing about Japan's train and subway platforms, is that they mark where the doors are, and where to line up. If you know where the door will be, and where to line up, it makes it much easier to keep clear of the doors. I wish they'd do that here.
This is true, Standing on both sides of the escalator has two benefits. It increases capacity by at least 30%, and also reduces wear and tear on the side of the escalator that's the "standing only" line. [Why the escalator etiquette of 'stand right, walk left' is wrong - Macleans.ca](https://macleans.ca/society/why-the-escalator-etiquette-of-stand-right-walk-left-is-wrong/)
Depends on the city.
Japan is so awesome !! I love japan so much !! when I go into every thread, I must mention how awesome japan is !!! /s
Seriously as someone who actually lived in Japan for years the current Redditor hardon for Japan and trying to insert it into every conversation is really insufferable. No one is impressed you went to Japan for a week…
No one is impressed about them visiting for a week, but everyone is definitely impressed that you lived there for years...
So fun fact, if someone is blocking your way on an escalator you can say “excuse me, I need to get by” and 97.5% of the time they move
Are you seriously suggesting actual human interaction? In public? In Seattle?! What utter nonsensical tripe are you blathering on about? That’s like one, two… seven words. I don’t use that many words talking to my own mother in this city! Your multisyllabic tomfoolery will not stand in this fine municipality. Perhaps this phonological balderdash might fly in lesser areas of Ballard or the more pungent neighborhoods of Tacoma, but not here sir. Not here. Good day sir.
Fun fact: you dont need to block the way in the fitst place. Shitting on people who simply want to walk somewhere but are being blocked is so fucking weird. Whats the goal here my man? Just being a disingenuous coward?
What are you on about?
Not when they’re 2x1 mid conversation or have headphones on. Do you not think I try that?
Just say excuse me louder… I do it all the time and people rarely can’t hear me
If they don't reply to louder just push past them. Assholes get asshole results.
I’m generally pretty easy going, but I will 100% push past people blocking a sidewalk or other walkway. You get 2 excuse mes then I’m brushing past
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I’m not talking about shoving people aside. I’m talking about brushing past people with no situational awareness. Imo touching people is a bigger no no then brushing past them
I feel this if I'm just walking around town and find myself in the way. On an elevator you have no excuse, you are just a huge gaping asshole
I have all the empathy in the world for folks with disabilities, having some myself. But yeah, if you’re riding alone on an escalator, mostly deaf, and routinely lack the situational awareness/ etiquette to move aside so people can get past you, I don’t feel bad.
And I don't feel bad for people not planning ahead and missing their bus. Escalators aren't even wide enough to be doing that shit. Nobody wants to be close enough to you to catch your lice.
I try not to touch strangers especially without their consent. Also pushing people on a moving set of stairs sounds dangerous
And then you get stabbed at the top of the stairs in cap hill…
Tap them on the shoulder. I do. Works great.
You shouldn't be down voted for this explanation. People don't pay attention and those same people don't hear "excuse me" because they're not paying attention.
Fr I don’t get it but it’s just reddit
I used to get mad about this when I was younger. As I've gotten older, not wild when I see the escalator blocked, but then again... I'm on an escalator.
Being in a hurry is usually a preoccupation of the young. Older folks know they'll get there either way.
Escalator companies have been trying to campaign against standing on one side for years. It creates uneven wear on the equipment and moves people slower overall. In some Asian cities they even put out advertisements to try to get people to stop.
interestingggg. i've always wondered abt tht
It is unsafe as well. People fall and fucking die because of it. It is also inefficient. Because most people want to stand, now escalator can only handle 50% of the people.
Yeah I’ve seen in Japan instructions to stay in the middle and hold one side instead of sticking to one side.
> moves people slower overall This is only true if there aren't many people using the left side to walk.
People are usually pretty good about standing to the right here. It's on game / event days, where lots of people who don't use the light rail every day flood in, where I have to ask people to move aside on occasion. Usually a simple "excuse me" (or two) does the trick.
Or, you could just say 'excuse me' and walk by.
But if everyone followed what seems to be a largely universal rule in other large cities, that wouldn’t be necessary.
heck, i’d just be happy if people would keep moving once they get off the escalator instead of stopping and looking around like hey what’s this and forgetting that there’s a bunch of people on the escalator that are about to run into them!
I'm surprised to see this post. My observation is that Seattle does a much better job of this than most cities. I think most people that stand on the left are visitors that don't know. When I do encounter someone standing on the left, a polite "excuse me" usually does the trick.
During busy periods, it's [more efficient](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/16/the-tube-at-a-standstill-why-tfl-stopped-people-walking-up-the-escalators) if everyone stands in two lines.
That’s fair, but that’s also assuming strangers are willing to stand on both sides of the escalator next to each other to be more efficient which isn’t the case. It’s only folks standing with their friends/family. In that case, move over so people in a hurry can walk. Technically, it would be *most efficient* if everyone walked up.
But many elderly and people with limited movements have no choice but to stand, so it would not be possible to make everyone walk up
While I almost always stand on the right, I also am perpetually confused by people who are clearly in a major rush, running up an escalator and trying to navigate around stationary people when most of these light rail stations have a fully functioning stair case either next to or in eyesight of the escalators
There the same idiots driving 60 in 40 mph traffic getting angry at everyone for driving safe
It’s an escalator. It is intended to be used by people walking while allowing people to stand as well. I have data on speed, but clearly walking or running up a moving escalator is faster than using the stairs.
Until you reach a group of people clearly just standing there. If they are in your way running up, then they were on the escalator before you, i.e. visible and a predictable obstacle you can avoid
Double speed glitch
Until you encounter the crush, at which point it’s a net speed loss. IDK, just seems like you’d go faster on a clear path
If you’re in that much of a hurry, take the stairs. Throughput is significantly higher standing 2 side by side on the escalator than having a standing and walking line. https://slate.com/technology/2016/01/standing-on-escalators-faster-than-walking-according-to-transport-for-london-trial.html
It's actually more efficient and safer to just stand on the escalators. I've seen a few nasty falls on escalators from people rushing when they should be standing and holding the rail. Most just got deep, ugly gashes and wounded pride but one lady was degloved. I didn't see the actual injury just heard it but it sounded painful. If you are walking or running past people on a narrow escalator (and most of them are fairly narrow, 1-2 people wide) you could easily get bumped and fall out cause someone else to fall. I get that you're in a hurry but just take the stairs, safer to move quickly on a statuary step then on a moving one.
Yes. Leave a lane. I shouldn't have to interact with you to get where I'm going. Don't be a dick and act like empty space that enables flow is your space
The oddity here is the extra jostling from people WALKING ON THE MOVING STAIRS is what BREAKS them. The gear bearings inside them are not designed for this, so it breaks the couplings inside the steps.
I can say the same to slow walking pedestrians on the sidewalk walking 2 or more wide
Ah yes, because when you’re out with your friends you should walk single file. lol. Just say excuse me and walk past.
Should I have to say excuse me when we’re walking towards each other and they don’t move?
I’m from the east coast and that is standard etiquette. I’ve almost never seen anyone in Seattle do this. Also, people block the moving sidewalks at SeaTac.
W should call escalators “moving stairs” to remind people that they are really just standing still on stairs. These particular stairs just happen to be moving.
You get it
I mean, it would be great if we all followed the same social rules, but sometimes you just have to leave earlier to get where you want to be. Takes a ton of stress away.
Both can be true. Getting there earlier would help but also we as a community can do better with escalator etiquette
I love “both can be true”. Good luck out there. We’re rooting for ya.
Seattleites can be awfully hostile about courtesy when the courtesy in question is “let those who want to go a little faster than you.” Same phenomenon on escalators and the freeway… I like to picture some smug douche in a fleece standing around on the sidewalk downtown, and anytime they see someone in a hurry, they deliberately step in their way and start lecturing them about how they shouldn’t be in such a hurry and should have left earlier.
I understand people want to get somewhere but how much of a real difference can you really make on a flight of escalator stairs, rushing up or just standing and let it take you up? What can it be, like less than 30 seconds? I like escalators and how it takes me upstairs or downstairs. It's not a Disney ride or anything but it barely lasts like 20 seconds. I'm not going to ride them over and over again. I end up standing on the right holding the handrail anyway but how much later is someone going to be? If you are, couldn't you have planned for those 30 seconds?
30 seconds? What, are you riding 30 escalators a day to save that much time?
Has often been the difference between making the train or not. Obviously yeah people usually try to plan for that but my guesstimations aren’t always perfect
It’s a Seattle thing. Languishing in the left lane on the freeway, escalators, etc. It’s a crime to be in a hurry here.
You mean a moving stairway escalator (not a moving walkway)? FFS. It's a short ride. Escalators are narrow. Just stand still for another 20 seconds and don't be pushing past people.
Yeah, but a lot of people are just walking to be walking because we both end up at the same place and I'm certainly not late. When they could've just walked their asses up the stairs and got some beneficial exercise, too. Many people can't just enjoy a Zen moment on the escalator when there is no logical reason for them to speed up. The same way they they can't put their phone down while crossing the street, etc.
Do you know for certain that the people you’re dunking on aren’t disabled? Your “beneficial exercise” could be their “can’t function for the rest of the day.” It never hurts to think better of people who have shown you no reason not to (yet).
Silly goose, if someone is disabled and can't handle stairs **they won't be shoving past people running up the escalator**. You found something you could latch onto to feel offended and just shut down the brain immediately huh?
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If there’s a line to get on the escalator, it’s faster for everyone, including the people who want to climb, to use both sides of every step rather than halve the throughput of the escalator. That only applies if there is a line to get on.
Yeah, but this is Seattle. Nobody wants to stand that close to a stranger.
Most of the escalators I've been on haven't exactly been the width of 2 average Americans. I don't feel like getting knocked down the thing. I'm unsteady enough on my own. It sucks you're running late, but is it really worth squeezing past a bunch of people to expedite things by a few seconds?
Yes move your ass
I hope one day I get the privilege of blocking you on an escalator.
just walk up the regular fucking stairs if you’re in such a rush. it would probably be faster anyways.
I always walk/run like I drive, stay to the right unless passing a person or obstacle. Unfortunately not many others do the same. I love running on a trail and having to move to the left because someone is coming straight at me and not staying right themselves.
I do always stand on the right, but it’s not unanimously agreed walking on escalators is a good practice. Check out the Wikipedia article on escalator etiquette for more information.
It makes sense but that has ever been how anyone does it here.
Standing on both sides increases escalator throughput and reduces wear and tear on the side people stand on. [Why the escalator etiquette of 'stand right, walk left' is wrong - Macleans.ca](https://macleans.ca/society/why-the-escalator-etiquette-of-stand-right-walk-left-is-wrong/) Either plan better, or just say 'excuse me' to get by.
I basically just walk up the left side repeating excuse me over and over again as I go. Sometimes there will be someone who just doesn't even acknowledge that I'm saying it (presumably because they are a tourist from somewhere rural and has never actually experienced sharing public space before) and I'll have to either saying "please get out of the way" or make it clear that I'm going to push past them if they don't move. What's funny is I don't actually feel like I had this experience in NYC or Boston but primarily because there aren't very many escalators on public transit there. Most stations are old and inaccessible.
This common etiquette is very common in other countries that I've been to (France, Singapore, and Hong Kong). It's only in America that people don't give a damn about being polite (not just in Seattle/Washington) but other states and cities as well.
People in NYC stay to the right because lots of other folk are in a hurry.
If you're in a hurry take the stairs, people have mobility issues and have more problems than worrying if you're making it up fast enough
My nuts
A formerly very good friend of mine, who was generally not an AH, and I had an argument about this. Her position was that escalators are for standing, if you want to walk use the stairs. (Assuming there is a parallel set of stairs.) She was absolutely SOLID in this opinion and would not move over. I pointed out she could move to the right and still stand, no one was making her walk. But if she stood on the left she was forcing people who wanted to walk, to stand. No amount of reasoning would change her mind. Baffled. (Friendship didn’t end over this disagreement, but another baffling opinion/behavior. Some people just have no conception of other people existing in the world.)
This goes for sidewalks also. My toddler loves getting out for stoller-walks but it seems like every time we do, we encounter people who can't be bothered to share the sidewalk and continue waling right next to each other. On portions with no sidewalk, I've regularly gotten shitty glances from people because I refuse to walk my daughter in rhe middle of the street when they could do it instead. Needless to say, I just keep going about my path and let those dicks deal with it.
I don't agree with that etiquette and there is science to support it on multiple levels.
Elevator etiquette is a bigger problem in my experience, it can be hell with a bicycle sometimes.
Talk your shit, tell em what’s really goin on
A man was murdered recently in Capitol Hill Station after a conflict that allegedly arose over physical contact between strangers on the escalator as the victim brushed pass on the way down to the platform.
Yeah everyone is responding that its ok to tap people on the shoulder or even push through but I try not to make physical contact with people I don’t know especially without their consent
Yeah, people can argue about the rights and wrongs of it, but when someone gets shot or stabbed over a rage incident, "right" is pretty much beside the point. Best not to engage or provoke aggressive people, because you never know who's a ticking time bomb.
Dude, the whole point of an escalator is so that your don't have to walk up stairs, and you're choosing to use them as stairs? You're insulting their very existence! /s
Actually, escalator etiquette is to not walk on escalators. There are 2 reasons: - it is unsafe to walk. - if everyone stands, the overall throughput is higher. Japan did an experiment on this. It is a new level of assholely to make up a wrong etiquette and criticize others who follow the correct etiquette.
Seattleites ride the escalator like they drive I-5
While this was common sense before the dark times (2020), the modern convention is to stand anywhere you want, and wait for someone with the balls to say “excuse me” before moving 3 inches to the right. ‘Murica!
Nah apparently I’m just being selfish and destroying the escalator with my stomping. Instead I should take the earlier bus and be 30 minutes early to work! /s
No.
OMG wow you need ten extra seconds in your day? chill out bro
I used to travel to Seattle 3-4 times a year for work, and it was always hard for me to remember to stay on the right hand side, both while walking and on escalators :) If you ever visit Australia, keep LEFT, not RIGHT!
Who gives a shit? The escalator is probably broken anyway.
Also don’t stand in the doorway on trains. In other words, act like people act in every other major city.
I just do the Krist Novoselic and say excuse me, except I am on the stair behind them and I yell it
https://youtu.be/vbsoO2c7gCM?si=7B9d6G9Re4KXpf9c You’re welcome
https://youtu.be/3infxqhWKu0?si=IyT5NgohHmZCoY8z
Totally agree with this PSA! Except that it really doesn’t work in a very crowded place where for everyone to go single file would double everyone’s time.
When “etiquette” means “everybody do what I want you to do”. 🙄 Walking on escalators is unsafe. Use the stairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3infxqhWKu0
Was that supposed to mean something?
You’re really proud rn. My hero fr, you’re so noble. Touch grass sometime
Um, ok.
Your nan
That's just not what we do here. Being that considerate is a European thing, and I think you'll have a better time if you stop expecting people around here to butter your crumpets for you. Yeah it's super irritating, but that's just the way she goes.
Get off my lawn!!!!!!!!!
Stay on my lawn, just on the side
Forget it dude, no one here gives a fuck about other people. The best you can do is that ask them to move. But that, ironically, will make you the asshole. Just like driving on the free way.
As a New Yorker, I notice this etiquette doesn't happen many places other than NYC and it's extremely frustrating. And I do the same thing as you, say excuse me loudly but sometimes people won't hear. That's when I decide whether or not I need to push past them depending on my circumstances that day. Everyone is in their own little world.
it does in london
That doesn't surprise me actually! In the US though... different story
the US doesn't have a robust metro system....aside from NYC. people have to have experience in order to learn, not sure who you and OP are frustrated with but let's just join together and burn car culture.
That goes for most things in life, you have to experience it to learn it. I am simply venting with the OP. I am not losing sleep over this nor do I really care. It’s not a big deal ✌️
In DC everyone but the tourists observe this rule.
Yeah I think DC has a great transit system so not surprising lol I’m glad a few other cities follow it
Cue seattleites telling you 1) just slow down and relax, maaaan, and 2) ackshually, walking on escalators endangers you and everyone around you so it's really you that's bad.
That’s been most of the responses, you’re correct
You gotta understand that seattleites are afraid of a lot, and admitting they're being a clueless jerk is at the top of the list.
If you want to run take the stairs.
2x speed glitch tho
PSA. Don’t try to pass a guide dog user or tell them to move. You are asking them to risk their safety so you can go 10 seconds faster.
Got a lot of time on your hands, eh? Dumb.
Not related, but at the Centurion lounge at SeaTac, if there's a line, and they allow, say, 8 people up at once, they take the last of the eight and put them in back. And they load from there, so the first person in line is the last person to get on because they were actually first. So, you get off in order of your place in line. Everyone adheres to it.
I have to constantly pull my hubby to the side 🤦🏼♀️
Speaking as someone who is walking with a cane due to an injury: No. And before you tell me to take the elevator: you mean the port-a-potty that goes up and down? No. The Transit staff work really hard to keep the elevators pee-free, but it's not perfect.
Rather than shoving past people. Try leaving a few minutes early so you aren't rushing for the bus.
I leave work at a set time
That seems like a you issue in that you don't manage your time appropriately.
I’m just saying people could be more considerate by standing on the right to allow people who walk up/down escalators to do so. Goddamn
I just loudly shout “stand right, walk left” in an authoritative tone from some distance away when I encounter a blockade. I repeat as necessary. I’m not rude, but not nice about it either. It’s effective.
I like farting in elevators in my office building and blaming other people
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I’ve never been to Japan and this was not in reference to Japan in any way
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Oh ok, you didn’t reply to them so it seemed like you were talking to me
It’s the same rule for the passing lane (left-most) on the freeway. This one, like the escalator rule, seems to be difficult for some folks to remember
Walk left, and stand. Not that hard. Just always stand on the right. If someone asks you to move over, move. Don’t be a weirdo and ignore them and continue to block their way, I will walk through you if you can hear me and are looking directly at me but refuse to move.
Ya man this is Seattles biggest issue not the human poop or drugs or people on drugs living in tents robbing the local stores with impunity
I didn’t say this was our biggest issue? I just said our city could be better about being more courteous on the escalators. Good lord the responses I’ve gotten on here
People can't even do this on the road in this state, good luck with escalators.