By HIROHISA YAMASHITA/ Staff Writer
November 12, 2022 at 16:31 JST
A sign posted on the wall next to an escalator at a Nagoya subway station asks users to not walk or run. (Hirohisa Yamashita)
NAGOYA--This central Japan city is set to become the first major urban area to pass an ordinance that bans walking or running on escalators at train stations and retail establishments.
The move is aimed at preventing mishaps on escalators, especially with the graying of the population and the planned holding of the Asian Games here in 2026.
The Saitama prefectural government became the first local government to pass such an ordinance in October 2021.
No penalties will be imposed on those who choose not to stand still on escalators, according to Nagoya city government officials.
However, the city government is considering obligating those who operate escalators to spread awareness of the ordinance as well as to distribute posters and stickers with that objective in mind.
The ordinance proposal will be submitted to the Nagoya city assembly set to convene in February. The city government hopes to enact the ordinance from the following October, figuring sufficient time will have elapsed by then for the public to be aware of the change.
“Our aim is to ensure that people line up in an orderly fashion on both sides of the moving stairway,” a city government official said.
In April and May when city officials carried out checks on escalator use at 10 locations, including commercial outlets, they found that about 20 percent of users walked or ran on the escalators.
In the last fiscal year, 125 Nagoya residents were taken to hospitals due to accidents on escalators.
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