By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-31 03:41:28 | Updated at 2026-08-31 05:47:40
2 hours ago
SEOUL – South Koreans are almost perfectly split over a surprisingly contentious question: How should you ride an escalator?
A government survey of 1,000 adults in seven major cities found 50.1 per cent preferred standing on one side and leaving the other open for people in a hurry.
The other 49.9 per cent said passengers should stand still in two lines. The near-even divide has revived a decades-old commuter debate in South Korea – and challenged the assumption that leaving one side open is always faster.
At a government-hosted forum in Seoul on Aug 29, about 200 citizens and experts debated whether escalators are safer and more efficient when everyone stands still or when one lane is left open for walkers.
“The question should not simply be whether one line or two lines is the right answer,” said Jang Gye-ryeon, a public administration researcher at the Korea Institute of Industrial Relations.
“We need to think about whose efficiency we are talking about, and at what place and time.”
For an individual in a hurry, walking up an escalator can clearly save time, but for everyone waiting to get on, using both sides may move more people.
Jang cited an experiment at a crowded British station in which passenger capacity rose about 25 per cent to 30 per cent when people stood on both sides instead of leaving one side open. A small test at Guri Station near Seoul produced a similar result.
Some 190 people used an escalator over the same period when both sides were occupied, compared with 164 under a one-side-standing arrangement. Researchers cautioned that the experiment was too limited to draw firm conclusions.
There is also a safety argument against walking.
Tests using sensors beneath escalator steps found that walking downward produced an impact equivalent to about 2.01 times a person’s body weight, while walking upward produced about 1.54 times body weight.
“Repeated impacts from walking and uneven loads from standing on one side could place repeated stress on certain parts (of the escalator),” said Heo Yun-seop, a professor at Korea Lift College.
He said that could affect an escalator’s life cycle and maintenance costs, though there is not enough evidence to say one-sided standing directly causes breakdowns.
South Korea has wrestled with the issue for years.
The authorities began promoting one-side standing in 1998, and the practice spread nationwide around the 2002 World Cup to make room for passengers in a hurry.
The government changed course as concerns grew over accidents and equipment maintenance, promoting two-line standing from 2009 to 2014. Since 2015, officials have stopped telling people which side to stand on.
Instead, the government recommends three basic rules: Hold the handrail, do not walk or run, and stay within the safety lines.
That mixed history may help explain why commuters remain so evenly divided. Safety data gives the government another reason to revisit the issue.
Of escalator accidents recorded between 1993 and 2025, 72.3 per cent were attributed to user behaviour, while people aged 60 and older accounted for 53.3 percent of those involved.
Even after hours of discussion on Aug 29, there was no clear winner. Before the forum, 45.9 per cent of participants favoured standing still in two lines, compared with 13.4 per cent who favoured leaving one side open for people in a hurry.
Afterward, support for one-side standing rose to 29.9 per cent, while support for two-line standing fell to 31.4 per cent. The largest group, at 38.1 per cent, favoured applying different rules depending on location and crowd levels.
Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said the government would apply the views raised at the forum in future measures to improve escalator safety. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
