Comments on: The Strange Dynamics of Airport Walkways

By: Steven Vance

Steven Vance — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:54:21 +0000

Has anyone read the science fiction novels (particularly Isaac Asimov’s amazing visions in book form) that describe cities with multi-level, varying speed moving walkways (MW) as a the primary transportation system?

It works like this:
You step onto a slow MW, then onto a higher-speed MW, continuing on to the highest-speed MW you can handle. There must be 100 different ways that the readers imagine this system. Mr. Asimov also adds how dangerous this system is because if you make a misstep going from MW to MW, you can fall in the gap and the walkways and hundreds of feet above ground.
Amazing.

Anyway, I stopped using MW at airports for the same reason I don’t use escalators: I can save time by not using them. Just like you pointed out.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:16:01 +0000

Most people may get on and slow down, but people who are in a real hurry don’t, and they save far more time - time which is very valuable to them at that moment.

So for the benefit of people for whom walking long distances is hard, and for the benefit of people in a real hurry (there are many of these in an aiport), moving walkways are very worthwhile. For the rest of us, they a slightly beneficial, and rather fun too.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:27:11 +0000

I think that researcher is forgetting the influence of pilots and flight attendants. They usually walk at a brisk clip even on the moving walkway, setting the tone for everyone else and encouraging a keep-right-except-to-pass mentality. Also, it has been my experience that moving walkways are way faster than walking, provided one is willing to squeeze past people who are stopped or walking slowly.

By: Brad Templeton

Brad Templeton — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:53:36 +0000

I wonder what the effect is of the express moving walkway at the new Terminal 1 in Toronto. That terminal is huge and it’s a ridiculous distance from some gates to the baggage claim, so they put in a high-speed moving walkway. It is a bit disconcerting at first, the panels fold up and become bumpy at the start and stop to reduce the speed for getting on and off.

When you are going though, it’s so fast that even if you stand still you’re at a quite brisk pace, so you can no longer slow down to make the speed seem sane.

By: Jason Stokes

Jason Stokes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:31:22 +0000

Ahh, but these walkways are very useful for the marginal walker who may have difficulty traversing the extremely long distances found in many airports. At large international airports it’s not uncommon to walk 1-2 km between gate & baggage claim. For someone like my father, who can walk but has some difficulty, these moving walkways are a godsend.

By: Vincent Clement

Vincent Clement — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:27:05 +0000

I can walk onto to the walkway, stand and not have to worry about anyone getting in my way. That is 11 seconds of pure bliss. The walkways also function as a bypass of a busy gate area.