SINGAPORE – Signs and standees have been spotted in at least one MRT station asking commuters to stand on both sides of the step as they ride on the escalator.
At City Hall MRT station near the exit to Raffles City on Nov 5, a standee bearing the SMRT logo was seen urging commuters to “Share A Step, Ease The Flow”, alongside a graphic showing people standing side-by-side on the escalator steps.
A yellow sign above the standee also read: “Stand on either side of the escalator.”
When The Straits Times visited City Hall station just before noon on Nov 6, commuters were seen continuing to stand on the left side of the escalator step, with only those wishing to overtake walking on the right.
For years, the standard practice on escalators in Singapore has been to stand on the left side of the step, allowing those in a rush to walk on the right.
But following a three-week trial in London in 2016, which found that standing on both sides of an escalator step increased passenger capacity by up to 30%, several cities around the world, including Singapore, have begun questioning the efficiency of existing escalator etiquette.
In 2018, major cities across China, including Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, began moving away from the approach of standing only on one side. In December that same year, Japan’s Tokyo station rolled out a similar approach encouraging commuters to take up the full available space on escalator steps.
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