In message , at 17:21:33 on Sun,
15 Sep 2013, Mike Bristow remarked:
In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
No, walking up both sides would be the most efficient.

Efficent? What are you optimising for? Throughput, or minimum journey
time?

Throughput.

ISTR that standing gives better throughput because people tend to
be happy leaving a small gap to the person in front when they stand,

But if they are walking up at the same speed as the escalator (ie
doubling their rate of progress) then they'll break even leaving twice
the gap. I don't think Londoners walking up escalators leave as much as
twice the gap.

but I can't find the any trace of the research I half-remember on the
web.

No, they are always wrong.

Not always.

Regarding where to stand on escalators, they almost always are.
--
Roland Perry