Escalating frustration

Unlike transit users in Paris, Tokyo and London, our local metro users are instructed to stand immobile on escalators, as apparently indicated in the well-known pictogram of a round-headed figure holding the hand of a smaller one. Now Darryl Levine, a 27-year-old Villa Maria habitué, feels it’s time for Montreal’s metro authorities to adopt the stand-right, walk-left policy common in other cities.

Levine was inspired to call for the change following a recent escalator incident. “I was going down an escalator and two women were standing next to each other chit-chatting, oblivious that there were all kinds of people behind them wanting to get by. I said, ‘Excuse me, I’d like to pass,’ and they said I should use the stairs. I said, ‘The custom is to stand on the right,’ and one said, ‘There’s no sign saying to do that,’” says Levine.

Montreal Transit’s Odile Paradis says the walking ban is based on manufacturers’ instructions. “Their code recommends users stay immobile and hold the rubber handrail to minimize injuries,” she says. She suggests that those compelled to walk should do so on the stairs because a misstep on an escalator could cause a collective tumble. Levine points out that some transit systems with the stand-right, walk-left policy are equipped with Otis escalators identical to our own. A Toronto Transit Corporation rep tells the Mirror that their longstanding stand-right, walk-left policy has not led to accidents. Levine invites supporters to sign his petition at www.petitiononline.com/stm2002/. :

—Kristian Gravenor