在英国人Craig McIntosh心里,自动扶梯需要分区的概念已经根深蒂固:左行右立——不论是在地铁站、购物中心,还是在机场的自动人行道上。但他却发现,研究证明,自己一直遵守的扶梯礼节不仅不安全,可能还影响了通行效率。 By Craig McIntosh I first visited London when I was 12 years old, traveling down from my native Northeast England on an overnight bus. The trip was a rite of passage in our family, as my mother had taken my older brother to the Big Smoke when he was the same age. 12岁的时候,我从英格兰东北的家乡出发,坐夜班汽车第一次去了伦敦。这趟旅行是我们家的成人礼。我哥哥也是在12岁时,随母亲去了这个大城市。 Other than the bustling stores along Oxford Road and the chaos of Piccadilly Circus, what left a lasting impression on me were the huge escalators at London Underground stations – not only because of their extraordinary length, but also for the big, yellow warning that was painted on their grinding mechanical steps. KEEP TO THE RIGHT, it read, leaving no room for argument. This was to allow commuters in a hurry (or those who just don’t like standing) to walk up the left-hand side. 伦敦之旅让我印象最深的不是牛津路上的繁忙商店,也不是皮卡迪利广场的热闹景象,而是伦敦地铁站巨大的自动扶梯——不仅长度惊人,而且滚动的机械台阶上还有大大的黄色警示语。上面写着“请靠右”,这毫无讨论的余地。靠右是为了给着急的人(或者那些不想站着的人)让出左边的空间,以供行走。 |