Do you step on an escalator straight away or do you wait a few seconds to avoid stepping on an edge?

Question

I tend to do the latter but my boyfriend thinks its better to step on straight away and adjust your feet afterwards so to avoid holding people up. Whats the right thing to do?

Answer 1

I travel through a busy train station on a daily basis, so here's the skinny....

BE SAFE!!!! That's the first priority. If you trip, fall, hurt yourself, etc, not only are you hurt, but that's going to hold people up way more.

That being said, it's courteous to the huge throng behind you waiting to get on if you're a quick as possible. So, once you learn *how* to step onto escalators right away (and that *does* take a little practice), then by all means do it quickly and don't hold people up.

Exception: If you're at a not-so-busy location, like a shopping mall in the middle of a weekday, etc, there are only a few people around, so be casual, and take your time.

The real rush is when you have a train load of 500 people all waiting to get up one escalator, and everyone's trying to get to work on time.

Answer 2

I almost always look down at the moving stairs and gauge where to step as I approach. With hardly any hesitation, and while keeping my momentum, I step onto the next step in line, and then adjust my feet if needed. I'm not always spot on.

Sometimes, I just keep walking as I step onto an escalator, or its cousin, the people mover. It almost creates a rush as I step on and get carried forward by my steps and by the machine, combined. It's a real let-down at the other end when I continue to walk off the end, too. It's almost like hitting brakes because of slow traffic after I've been buzzing down the freeway.

Answer 3

wait a sec. the people behind you are going to do the same thing. Was in the international terminal once and 4 hispanic men were at the top of the escalator staring at it letting everyone go by absolutely enamored at what to do. I know that people have to learn but if you could have only seen their faces

Answer 4

i don't think there's a polite and not polite way of stepping on the escalator. your bf's reasoning makes sense, but so does yours...what i do is i look for the crack indicating the seperation, and make sure to avoid putting all my weight there. then, i can adjust my weight. that way, i won't really be holding up other people, but that extra second causes me not to fall......but you choose, do what you're comfortable with

Answer 5

I'm very careful when stepping onto the escalator, I always wait til I know I can do it safely - it just takes a second or two anyway.

Answer 6

i always wait a few seconds too.
Better to wait and do it right than jump on right up and end up falling over and looking like a real dork and then you not only hold people up but your boyfriend would be held up too ! Oh dear:)

Answer 7

Avoid stepping on an edge.

Answer 8

I slow down to try and time my step onto the middle, but even then I sometimes miss and have to stop before getting on or risk falling over.

Answer 9

I pause a few seconds to be sure of my footing. My assumption is that those behind me would rather wait the few seconds for me rather than have me come tumbling down on top of them. But maybe I'm wrong?

Answer 10

You have to go with your inner self confidence. You can't let people rush you to a fall or in to hurting yourself. Go with what's comfortable to you. I always wait a few seconds before stepping on.