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Comments (52)

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  davnicwil
  It's interesting that escalators generally run slower in the US since their inventor was American: Jesse W. Reno.It does seem like a bit of a trend in engineering that the first to get there set slower standards that others then copy, speed up and otherwise improve upon. See Britain and trains.On that note, the very same Jesse W. Reno tried to build a spiral escalator in London in 1906 in Holloway Road tube station, the shaft for which still exists today. It never made it into production aparrently, but goes with the trend.
• WalterBright
  I once worked in a Japanese tower for a few weeks. The office was on the 6th floor. I'd play beat-the-elevator with my coworkers. They'd get in the machine, as I casually leaned against the wall.As soon as the doors closed, I'd sprint up the stairs, with the intent of lounging against the wall, pretending I am not breathing hard, and pretending to look at my watch.Unfortunately, I rarely made it past the 5th floor sprinting. But there was still enough time to walk up the last flight and implement my evil plan.My coworkers just looked at me with their "gaijin" expression.
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  arionhardison
  I lived in DTLA for several years and regularly used Little Tokyo/Arts District station. It was not uncommon during peak hours to see people - myself included sliding down the railing.I am 43 years old now and was much younger then (27-35) but I remember these days fondly. Now I live in NYC where public transit it so much better that this and many other issues that plague LA (especially the redline) do not exist but I do miss those days and look back on them fondly.I still have at least 1 scar I can attribute to trying this whilst wearing the wrong pants (in terms of fabric).
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  dmurray
  Some stations in Prague were at 200 cm/s, according to some sources [0] before EU regulations cut it to a maximum of 90 cm/s (TFA puts Prague at 65 cm/s today, and you know, I'm not on a Prague escalator right now, so I suppose I'll trust them).I can't find a better source for just how fast the Prague escalators were, but as an occasional user they seemed more than twice as fast as London or Paris which TFA gives as 65-75 cm/s.They felt dangerous to step onto, but I never saw anyone actually have an accident. The metro in Prague is also deeper than most.[0] https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/prague-s-speedy-len...
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  gniv
  I remember taking the escalators in Moscow in the 80s and thinking they were freakishly fast. According to this article they are not that fast. I wonder if they lowered the speed or it was just my lack of familiarity with long escalators.
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  big_toast
  LA: 0.46 meters/s (1 mph)Hong Kong: 0.75 meters/s (1.7 mph)Kyiv: 0.9 meters/s (2 mph)Kinda slower than I expected in general. I assume the speed is mostly dictated by boarding/alighting safety.
• mixmastamyk
  The speed is fine, need to be safe for old folks and kids. The important part is that people move over so those in a hurry/need exercise can continue walking.
• neom
  Wonder if this article was inspired by this youtube video that came out a few weeks back. One of my top 5 watches of the month I'd hazard.Where are the fastest escalators in the world? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWJot1Q2LgY
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  Barbing
  > [increasing speeds would save] about 670,000 hours a year.Are they the bottleneck? How many fewer/additional injuries would result from increasing escalator speeds? (Do people get good thinking done during their climbs and descents?)Anyway, using the escalator would mean not jogging up/down the stairs as is my instinct.
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  talon8635
  Decades of fecal matters gumming up the gears
• lpghatguy
  I'm a little surprised there's no data here from the Montréal or Toronto metro systems! I think Canada has the same escalator speed limit as the US, so I expect them to be similar.
• Neywiny
  The longest escalators in the Eastern hemisphere, at Wheaton Metro, which I've ridden many times, are apparently the same speed according to Wikipedia. So my gut feeling of maybe they did that because maybe they're short doesn't hold
• amelius
  That's what smartphoness are for ...
• remusrm
  [dead]