Not the first time I've seen this sentiment in an article, but there are so many weird things about this strange approach. First of all, in any scenario where a person has space in front of them, it's faster for them and for the whole crowd for them to walk instead of stand. The 'issue' is that there's a social norm that the standers only use one lane, which leads to delays when there are more standers than one lane can accommodate. The solution is not to encourage people to stand, the solution is to allow people to stand on both sides when there's a crowd forming at the escalator entrance.
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Looking at this in terms of averages, or forcing people to do anything other than what is considered courteous norm, is simply wrong.
Some people prefer to stand on escalators, while some prefer to walk. They are both legitimate approaches, and should be allowed to coexist with tolerance without disturbing each other.