Have you experienced a time when you’re just rushing to get from floor to floor at another mall, probably to catch a movie or to rush to the toilet, but the escalator is so packed and people just don’t make way?
In countries such as France and USA, it is a common practise to make way for others on the escalator. This is done by separating the walking and standing lane with instructions pasted on the clear sides of the escalator. While this practise is not yet widely used in Malaysia but instructions to make way on the escalator can be found in certain places such as KL Sentral.
Our plan was to observe whether the guidelines pasted on the sides of the escalator left any impact on users or not.
Our observations are as follows:
When there were not as many people, users actually adhere to the guidelines. Those who wanted to stand stood on the right side of the escalator making way for those who choose to walk to do so on the left side of the escalator. Soon, traffic started to get heavier and we noticed people started to ignore the guidelines. Those with luggage and others with partners or big groups completely blocked off the way.
We then disguised ourselves as users who wanted to walk. Two or three volunteers at a time would get on an escalator filled with people and politely ask them to make way. While they gracefully made way for us, after we passed, they would yet again block the walking lane.
What we can conclude from this is, although the practise is not yet well established in Malaysia, there is still hope that it can be. The guidelines are only pasted at certain areas and hence not consistent throughout the nation. More malls and public places should put this practise into place to create a bigger awareness and drill the habit into Malaysians.
On another hand, we as individuals should take this as a lesson. We should always be mindful of others and pay attention to our surroundings. We should also adhere to guidelines and instructions despite the traffic. At the end of the day, these guidelines are placed for our own benefits.
Change can start through a person’s initiative but it can only happen when everyone works together to make it work. Let’s start putting those guidelines to good use and making way from now on!
In countries such as France and USA, it is a common practise to make way for others on the escalator. This is done by separating the walking and standing lane with instructions pasted on the clear sides of the escalator. While this practise is not yet widely used in Malaysia but instructions to make way on the escalator can be found in certain places such as KL Sentral.
Our plan was to observe whether the guidelines pasted on the sides of the escalator left any impact on users or not.
Our observations are as follows:
When there were not as many people, users actually adhere to the guidelines. Those who wanted to stand stood on the right side of the escalator making way for those who choose to walk to do so on the left side of the escalator. Soon, traffic started to get heavier and we noticed people started to ignore the guidelines. Those with luggage and others with partners or big groups completely blocked off the way.
We then disguised ourselves as users who wanted to walk. Two or three volunteers at a time would get on an escalator filled with people and politely ask them to make way. While they gracefully made way for us, after we passed, they would yet again block the walking lane.
What we can conclude from this is, although the practise is not yet well established in Malaysia, there is still hope that it can be. The guidelines are only pasted at certain areas and hence not consistent throughout the nation. More malls and public places should put this practise into place to create a bigger awareness and drill the habit into Malaysians.
On another hand, we as individuals should take this as a lesson. We should always be mindful of others and pay attention to our surroundings. We should also adhere to guidelines and instructions despite the traffic. At the end of the day, these guidelines are placed for our own benefits.
Change can start through a person’s initiative but it can only happen when everyone works together to make it work. Let’s start putting those guidelines to good use and making way from now on!