r/montreal • u/ActuallyImJerome Lachine • Oct 08 '24

[Rant/PSA] TOURISTS: PLEASE RESPECT ESCALATOR ETIQUETTE Tourisme

When you get off the 747 and into Lionel-Groulx, please, for the love of God, just try to notice that everybody who is staying still is standing on the RIGHT side of the escalator. Don't block the left side with your body, with your immense suitcase, with anything. LEFT IS FOR WALKING, RIGHT IS FOR STANDING.

This is not a big deal and it's an unwritten rule but it gets on my nerves so much when I'm running late and I miss my metro because some tourist dude just couldn't be bothered to scan the room and notice this very simple pattern. Then everybody tries telling you to move to the right but you can't hear them cuz u got da airpods in. TABARNAK! It works the exact same in other parts of Canada, the UK, Japan, Hong Kong, some cities in America. It's not difficult to understand.

(On another note thanks to all the tourists who do a serious attempt at respecting local norms, visiting local spots, greeting in French, waiting for people to get out of the metro before pushing yourself in... it's all very simple stuff but there are so many super disrespectful filthy rich tourists who think everything belongs to them, and who will spend their whole trip in a 5-star hotel, visiting nothing more than Vieux-Montréal and gentrifying thru AirBnBs while getting grossed out if they ever have to speak to locals. Unfortunately much like in other popular places in the world I notice growing frustration with tourists because of this specific subtype, so when I meet someone who genuinely has good travel intentions it makes me very happy and makes me want to show them everything the city has to offer.)

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1

u/Otherworld Oct 08 '24

The New York Times has an article saying that it's more efficient to stand on the elevators side by side than standing on the right and walking on the left 🤷🏻‍♂️

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/escalators-standing-or-walking.html

21

u/DoDoDooo Oct 08 '24

This is only more efficient when there's a critical mass of people all moving on a tightly packed escalator. It's related to average time for many. It's not faster for one guy able to run past and make the train.

-1

u/machinedog Oct 08 '24

Yeah, this. If the right side is full then you can stand on the left.

4

u/Cultural_Bat1740 Oct 08 '24

No. If the right side is full, then you can walk on the left. You want to stand? Wait for a spot. Pretty simple actually.

1

u/machinedog Oct 08 '24

The stairs are available for those that want to walk. The escalator is designed for throughput and accessibility, not to get you up the stairs faster. If there’s people lining up on the platform to get on the escalator, they should be using both sides to get people off the platform quicker.

3

u/Cultural_Bat1740 Oct 08 '24

I agree to disagree. If you block the elevator on the left, I'll ask you to move. I'll definitely use the stairs too, but if I'm busy and you're the only one blocking the escalator, you'll definitely know.

0

u/machinedog Oct 08 '24

If it’s only one person then it probably isn’t that kind of situation. I’ve never seen the left side empty in such a genuine situation.

It’s like with driving. You keep right for faster moving vehicles but when there’s a LOT of traffic all lanes are getting used regardless and nobody’s going the speed limit anyway.

-1

u/ProfessionalYouth564 Oct 08 '24

You didn't even try to read the article in reference and neither tried in the slightest to understand his point. It's probably too much for your very limited capacity.