Wrestle out of the packed subway car - done.

從擁擠的地鐵車廂擠出一條生路，完成。

Avoid getting lost and carried away by the crowd - done.

防止自己在人群中迷失或被人群帶走，完成。

Reach the escalator and join the gridlock at the entrance - done.

找到電扶梯並加入擁擠的人群，完成。

At least all the commuters are following the common escalator rule: stand on the right side, walk on the left.

至少所有的通勤者都有遵守基本的地扶梯規則：靠右站，靠左行走。

After all, it's the most effective way to use an escalator, right?

畢竟這是使用電扶梯最有效率的方法，對吧？

Actually, it's wrong!

事實上，錯了！

Wait, what?

等等，什麼？

But this practice makes perfect sense: you can always choose whether you want to relax and let the machinery do all the work or save time and walk up!

但這樣做明明就很有道理：你隨時都可以選擇你想放鬆地讓機器帶著你移動或是節省時間自己走！

Well, let me break it to you: it turns out that we've been using escalators inefficiently all this time.

這個嘛，讓我和你說明：結果我們一直以來都很沒效率地使用電扶梯。

A 2011 study from the University of Greenwich figured out that while 75% of people choose to stand on escalators, only 25% walk up.

格林威治大學在 2011 所做的一個研究指出有 75% 的人選擇在電扶梯上用站著，但只有 25% 的人用走的。

It means that half of the escalator is serving just one-quarter of commuters.

這代表一半的電扶梯都用來服務了僅僅四分之一的通勤者。

Besides, there are more gaps on the walking side of the escalator than on the side where people stand.

況且，電扶梯上走路那邊的空間還比站立的那邊來得大。

In 2015, the London Underground started a three-week trial of a revolutionary approach to using escalators.

2015 年時，倫敦地鐵展開了一個為期三週，革命性的電扶梯使用實驗。

They chose the Holborn Tube Station, which is a busy transfer station, with 56 million people passing through every year.

他們選擇了霍本站來做實驗，一個每年運量約五千六百萬旅客的忙碌轉運站。

Employees of Transport for London asked commuters not to walk on the escalators.

倫敦地鐵的員工要求通勤者不可在電扶梯上行走。

You might guess that asking politely wouldn't work in a crowd of people desperate to get to work.

你可能會想說有禮貌地要求趕著上班的通勤者不要用走的可能沒用。

That's why the employees used megaphones and even blocked walking traffic.

所以地鐵員工會使用大聲公或甚至直接擋住想用走的人。

On top of that, they asked people traveling together to stand next to each other on the escalators.

除此之外，他們也會請一起來的人在電扶梯上站在彼此旁邊。

As for couples, they were encouraged to hold hands to serve as a live fence and prevent others from passing.

至於情侶，地鐵員工鼓勵他們在電扶梯上牽手，形成人肉圍籬來阻擋其他人通過。

The organizers of the experiment were astonished to find out that the method worked even better than they had predicted.

研究者驚奇地發現這個方法成效比他們預期得還要好。

See for yourself: during the morning rush hour between 08:30 to 09:30, the average escalator used to transport about 12,750 people.

結果自己看：在早晨的尖峰時刻 8:30-9:30 時，電扶梯平均可以運送 12,750 人。

But during the same (trial) period of standing rules, the same escalator moved 16,220 people!

但在站立實驗期，同樣的電扶梯可以運送 16,220 人！

Plus, according to the researchers, the congestion at the entrance of the escalators was reduced by almost 30%!

再者，根據研究者所說，電扶梯入口的擁塞情形也降低了三成。

But if you think that the trials were going smoothly and painlessly, think again.

但如果你認為這個實驗一切都很順利也沒問題就錯了。

Imagine that you're in a hurry to catch your train or to get to your work place, and suddenly you're told to hold your horses and stand still!

試想你正在趕車或趕著上班，但你突然被攔下並被要求好好用站的你會怎樣？

Wouldn't you rebel?

你不會反抗嗎？

Well, the commuters who unwittingly participated in the experiment did.

這個嘛，無意參與這項實驗的通勤者就這麼做了。

People kept pushing each other, shouting, and arguing.

人們與彼此推擠、大叫，甚至起爭執。

It seems that the problem lies in human nature: we want the result right away and are unwilling to postpone it in the interest of the greater good.

問題似乎出自於人類的天性，我們想要立刻得到想要的結果，卻不想為了大局稍微延後自己的時間。

On the one hand, it makes sense that the more computers (commuters) get on an escalator at once, the smaller the bottleneck at the entrance will be.

另一方面，越多通勤者上電扶梯代表著入口的阻塞會越少。

Therefore, your ride will take less time.

因此，你將會花較少的時間搭乘電扶梯。

But for escalator walkers, it sounds counter-intuitive and doesn't feel like a worthy trade-off.

但對於本來在電扶梯上就用走的人，這與他們的平常的習慣不同，所以他們不認為這樣是值得的。

Interestingly, people didn't feel all that indignant about the new rule on longer escalators.

有趣的是，在長距離的電扶梯時，人們就不會對這項新規定感到如此憤怒。

On such escalators, commuters already preferred to stand on the walking side rather than move.

在這樣的電扶梯，通勤者早就偏好在電扶梯站立而非行走。

First, the distance is too long to climb.

第一，這距離用走的太遠了。

Secondly, escalator stairs are wider and higher than your ordinary stairs, and you need to spend more energy to get to the top.

第二，電扶梯的階梯比一般階梯要來的寬與高，所以你將需要更多體力走上去。

But is the time difference between walking and standing really that great?

但在電扶梯上行走與站立的時間真的有差那麼多嗎？

Not at all!

一點也不！

Researchers from Capgemini Consulting timed themselves while standing vs. walking on escalators at the Green Park Station in London.

凱捷管理顧問公司的研究者分別計算了他們在倫敦綠園站電扶梯行走與站立的時間。

It turned out that it took a commuter 26 seconds to walk to the top of the moving escalator and 40 seconds to get there while standing still.

結果發現，從電扶梯的底走到頂要花 26 秒，用站立的則是花 40 秒。

At the same time, the total time people had to spend standing in line at the entrance of the escalator and then riding it became significantly shorter if commuters were standing on the escalator side by side.

還有呢，如果通勤者們肩並肩在電扶梯站立，在入口排隊加上搭乘的總時間將會大幅縮短。

So, if 40% of people walked on the escalator, the average time for the walkers was 46 seconds and for the standers 138 seconds.

結論是，如果四成的人選擇在電扶梯上用走的，他們平均花的時間為 46 秒，站立者花的平均時間則為 138 秒。

But if all the people stood, the average time for everyone was 59 seconds.

但如果全部的人都用站的，每個人平均花的時間為 59 秒。

As you see, the walkers had to spend 13 seconds longer on the escalator, but for the standers, it was a serious 79-second improvement.

如你所見，用走的人或許得多花 13 秒在電扶梯上，但對站立者而言將可大大節省 79 秒。

As for the line at the entrance of the escalator, instead of 73 people, it dropped to 24.

至於電扶梯入口的排隊人潮也從 73 人降為 24 人。

But there's another argument for why people should stand on escalators side by side.

但也有另一個人們應該在電扶梯上肩並肩站著的論點。

When most commuters stand on the right (or on the left, depending on the country), the weight on the stairs gets distributed unevenly.

當大部分的通勤者站在右邊 (或左邊，每個國家不同)，電扶梯所承受的重量變得不平均。

As a result, one side of the escalator experiences a much greater strain than the other.

因此，電扶梯的一邊承受了比另一邊更大的壓力。

It leads to an increased risk of the escalator breaking down, which, in turn, may lead to some nasty accidents.

這將導致電扶梯損壞的風險增加，而這也可能引發一些糟糕的意外。

By the way, since we've started to talk about dangers and risks, walking is the main cause of escalator injuries.

對了，既然我們已經談論到了危險與風險，在電扶梯上行走是電扶梯受傷事件的主因。

With all the benefits of standing on escalators, why is it so difficult to get people to follow this new rule?

既然在電扶梯上用站著的益處那麼多，為什麼要大家遵守這個新規則這麼難？

The problem is that most commuters, especially Americans, prefer to keep a bigger distance between themselves and others.

問題出在於大部分的通勤者，尤其是美國人，喜歡與他人保持一個較大的距離。

Have you ever seen people putting their bags next to them on buses or trains so that nobody can join them?

你有沒有看過人們會在公車或車廂上把行李放在他們旁邊讓人們無法靠近？

Right, that's what I'm talking about.

對，這就是我所說的。

The average American likes to have at least 1 and 1/2 ft of personal space separating them from other people.

平均來說，美國人喜歡有至少 1.5 呎 (約 0.45 公尺) 的個人空間。

Naturally, when you stand on an escalator, this distance is much smaller.

自然地，當你站在電扶梯上，這距離會大幅縮短。

It makes people feel uncomfortable, and some of them choose to walk to avoid the risk of a stranger invading their personal space.

這使得人們感到不舒服，所以某些人會選擇在電扶梯上用走的來避免自己的個人空間被陌生人侵犯。

On top of that, the "walking on the one side, standing on the other" rule is deeply ingrained in people's minds.

除此之外，「靠一邊站、另一邊走」的規定已經在人們的腦海裡根深蒂固。

At the times when cities were becoming more crowded, the rhythm of life was also getting more hectic.

當城市變得更加擁擠的時候，生活的節奏也會變得更加忙碌。

People needed to get from one place to another as fast as possible, and that's when the walking-standing split became the norm.

人們需要更快速地到達目的地，這就是「站走分離」成為電扶梯準則的原因。

And here we are now.

而這就是現況。

Anyway, the idea of all commuters standing on escalators side by side sounds reasonable.

不論如何，讓所有通勤者肩並肩站在電扶梯上或許有道理。

But there are also a lot of experts who are sure that walking on escalators is still a much safer and better way to get to your goal.

但有許多專家確信在電扶梯上用走的是個比較安全且較好的方式。

First of all, when all the commuters stand next to each other in two lines, it puts additional weight on the escalator.

首先，當所有通勤者肩並肩排成兩列，這會給電扶梯施加額外的重量。

As a result, it may start to break down or wear out much faster, which may lead to dangerous accidents.

因此，電扶梯可能會損壞或磨損地更加快速，因而導致危險的意外發生。

The supporters of the "everybody-walks" idea also say that if nobody was standing on the stairs and everybody was moving, there would be no gridlocks at all.

「全員皆走」的支持者也表示如果沒有人在電扶梯上用站的，每個人都在移動，那就完全不會有壅塞的情形發生。

Well, although reasonable, this advice doesn't sound like fun when you're returning from the airport with a heavy suitcase.

這個嘛，雖然有道哩，但當你帶著重行李箱從機場回來時，這個建議聽起來可能就不有趣了。

Another argument in favor of walking on the escalator is that when you move, you pay more attention to your surroundings.

支持在電扶梯上用走的另一個論點為當人們在移動時，會更加注意周遭環境。

Thus, you may notice that something's gone amiss and avoid an accident.

因此，你可能可以注意到某物出差錯了，因而逃過一劫。

And finally, they say that walking up the stairs is healthy and counts as doing physical exercise

最後，他們說爬樓梯很健康且可以算是一種運動。

Hey I like anything that counts towards something, don't you?

嘿，我喜歡任何可以當成運動的事情，你也是吧？

So, what's your opinion on the matter?

你對這件事的觀點是什麼？

Do you use your escalator time to watch cat videos or make your legs fitter?

你用搭乘電扶梯的時間來看貓咪短片還是瘦腿？

Sound off in the comments below!

在留言區發表你的意見！

Remember to give this video a "like," share it with your friends, and click "subscribe" to go up the escalator to the Bright Side of life!

記得按讚、分享，並訂閱來搭乘電扶梯前往人生的 Bright Side！