Jeffrey- fantastic article. I wrote one of the articles this quarter, yet every time I pick up the current TNAC, I reread your article. I’ve had the sneaking belief that escalators were wastes for a while now, but you’ve confirmed my belief and articulated that belief better then I ever could.
ken o in SF
Fri, Aug 01, 2008 at 12:43pm
when i worked in japan, i noticed immediately the escalators which didn’t move until you passed through an IR sensor. then they started working until you stepped off.
when i see escalators in america, i think wasted coal-fired power plant energy…
Tamra
Sun, Aug 03, 2008 at 1:25pm
I ride DC’s Metro seven days a week - just getting from home to work requires walking up or down four, five or seven escalators, depending on where I transfer and where I get off. I can understand keeping them running steadily from about 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., the maybe from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, but I’ve wondered lately how much money Metro might save on their electric bills if all but the longest ones were turned off and just used as stairs the rest of the day and night. I do understand the logistical problem of getting and keeping them empty long enough to stop and start them, but wouldn’t it be worth it for the cost savings of cutting about 10 hours per day, five days per week from the operating time of most of Metro’s 588 escalators?
There are lots of stations in which I wonder why the escalators are there at all. They make sense at really deep stations like Wheaton and Dupont Circle, but at the barely-below-street-level stations like Prince George’s Plaza, they seem like something that doesn’t make up for in usefulness what they must cost in maintenance.
Max in Germany
Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 4:49pm
Many German escalators have sensors and stop running if no one is using them. if you step on it it will start and get you where you want to go. It’s not rocket science.
Robert Linn
Thu, Jul 03, 2008 at 3:31am
Jeffrey- fantastic article. I wrote one of the articles this quarter, yet every time I pick up the current TNAC, I reread your article. I’ve had the sneaking belief that escalators were wastes for a while now, but you’ve confirmed my belief and articulated that belief better then I ever could.
ken o in SF
Fri, Aug 01, 2008 at 12:43pm
when i worked in japan, i noticed immediately the escalators which didn’t move until you passed through an IR sensor. then they started working until you stepped off.
when i see escalators in america, i think wasted coal-fired power plant energy…
Tamra
Sun, Aug 03, 2008 at 1:25pm
I ride DC’s Metro seven days a week - just getting from home to work requires walking up or down four, five or seven escalators, depending on where I transfer and where I get off. I can understand keeping them running steadily from about 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., the maybe from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, but I’ve wondered lately how much money Metro might save on their electric bills if all but the longest ones were turned off and just used as stairs the rest of the day and night. I do understand the logistical problem of getting and keeping them empty long enough to stop and start them, but wouldn’t it be worth it for the cost savings of cutting about 10 hours per day, five days per week from the operating time of most of Metro’s 588 escalators?
There are lots of stations in which I wonder why the escalators are there at all. They make sense at really deep stations like Wheaton and Dupont Circle, but at the barely-below-street-level stations like Prince George’s Plaza, they seem like something that doesn’t make up for in usefulness what they must cost in maintenance.
Max in Germany
Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 4:49pm
Many German escalators have sensors and stop running if no one is using them. if you step on it it will start and get you where you want to go. It’s not rocket science.