In early December 2017, Rocketnews24 reported about a campaign aimed to help the elderly and disabled.
Like many major cities, Tokyo – and Japan in general, encourages commuters on trains and subways when going up or down escalators, to stand on one side, but there is an unwritten understanding that on the other side of the escalator, one can run, or at the very least, move at more brisk pace.
“[T]he Tokyo Metropolitan Physical Therapy Association and Japan Elevator Association want to put an end to all of this [walking down one side of an escalator & standing on another], citing safety and inefficiency as major flaws in the system.
As a commuter in Japan, I really do sympathize. We all want to get to work on time. My physical disability allows me – for now – to move quickly, however that may not always be the case. And if the research from the ‘London Holborn Station Experiment’ holds water, why not adopt a ‘stand on both sides’ to escalators?