Japanese city Nagoya bans walking on escalators
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A Nagoya municipal subway employee urging commuters to stay safe at Hisaya-Odori station.
PHOTO: THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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NAGOYA, Japan – A Nagoya city ordinance requiring people to stand on escalators rather than walk on them went into effect on Sunday.
In Nagoya, it is customary to stand still on the left side of the escalator and leave the right side free for people who want to walk up or down.
The challenge now is how to let commuters know about the ordinance and enforce it to prevent accidents such as falls.
Japan Today reported that in recent years, there have been many incidents of people losing their balance and knocking others over, as well as accidents involving commuters running up and down escalators.
The ordinance requires people to stand still on any escalator at train stations and other facilities in the city, regardless of whether they stand on the left or right.
However, there are no penalties for breaking the rule.
The Nagoya City government has been running TV commercials and putting up posters about the new ordinance at major train stations, reported Japan Today.
Nagoya is not the first city to adopt this move.
The Saitama prefectural government was the first in the country to enforce a similar ordinance in October 2021.
A study found that at one point, enforcement decreased the percentage of people walking on escalators from 60 per cent to 38 per cent, but it has now returned to the pre-ordinance level.
THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
