Walk Left, Stand Right (or Perambulate Right)

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Let me start out telling you thatthe Brooklyn Bridge I am a born New Yorker.  I walk fast, I talk fast, I think fast…in fact, I do everything very quickly- with one exception.  ‘Nuff said.   Back to the topic.  I have been gone for some 4 decades.  But, I still am a New Yorker at heart.

When I go back to visit, I notice things.  Like tourists.  Who  w-a-l-k   v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w-l-y.  I have always walked about 5 mph.  (My kids would remind me of that- although, by necessity, they certainly walk quicker than most.)  On one recent trip to New York, I could pick out EVERY tourist while we were sitting on a bench.  Just by watching them perambulate.  I am not alone- most of my childhood friends can (and do) do this.

It turns out that there is a fair amount of scientific research to substantiate this phenomenon.   It seems to have begun in the 70’s with Pushkarev and the Regional Plan Association.  (There’s an out of print MIT Press Book, Urban Space for Pedestrians, 1975).  There’s also a study from New York City (2006) that is often used as true data.  But, that study was effected in lower Manhattan, where the pedestrian speeds are lower and the sidewalks are often narrower than in Midtown (where most of us tend to feel impeded by tourist flow).   In lower Manhattan, the speeds were reported to be on the order of 4.3 fps (2.9 mph) and tourists moved at 3.7 fps (2.5 mph).  If you watch folks leaving Penn Station or Columbus Circle, you can see these quoted  “citizen” speeds are far too low.

Now, a recent study by Drs. Moussaid, Perozo, Garnier, Helbing, and Theraulaz was published  in PlosOne.  They  determined that groups form spontaneously while walking.  During weekdays about 70% are in the “mainstream”, with the rest moving at a different (slower) rate; on weekends, when more folks may be out for a stroll, the groups are closer to 50%.  This seems to be more the norm in smaller cities, however.  (Note: my comment is anecdotal; and this study was seemingly effected in France.)

Data I have observed are that pedestrians are closer to platoons, multifaceted groups that depend upon the total density of pedestrians moving in a given direction. You can see this behavior when crowds depart from ballgames, leave subway stops, or exit from jumbojets.  That seems to be the data that Pushkarev found, as well.  And, it’s those groups and their expectations of movement that leads to the walking version of “road rage”.

Jeff Deffenbacher, a professor at Colorado State, and Leon James, University of Hawaii, were both quoted extensively in a Wall Street Journal article that attempted to characterize pedestrian rage.  The definitions used in the article applied to those that walked into others deliberately, muttered at others while walking, or using mean faces.    It’s easy to understand most of them  (the mean faces is clearly in the eye of the beholder).   The behavior is not acceptable, but to be honest, I have not seen that often in Manhattan (or DC, either).

But, that behavior is not quite the same thing as reacting to folks who walk the wrong way, don’t follow the rules on escalators (walk left, stand right), deliberately walk slowly four or five abreast, and the like.  That behavior may exist and be acceptable in small towns, where the pace of life is slower.  But, in cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, that behavior does not work.  (As a further comparison, in small towns and not on interstates, driving in the left lane at slow speeds is acceptable; but once you are on the interstate, the left lane is for passing- and there are minimum speeds posted.)

I am not advocating road rage or pedestrian rage.  But, I do advocate that if you like to drive slowly- stay out of the left lane.  And, if you are a tourist, follow the standard “hydraulics” (law of fluid flow) rule- the slower traffic is at the edges and the faster items are closer to the center.

Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

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2 thoughts on “Walk Left, Stand Right (or Perambulate Right)”

  1. Roy, what a fascinating article on something I had never really considered …. I will remember this when I visit New York and try to reduce the pedestrian rage as a tourist. I know there is an annoyance factor when I am in shopping centres on a mission and am blocked at every turn by slow moving bodies of people.

    1. It’s a factor everywhere. You’re trying to catch a plane and folks are walking (dragging their life’s possessions with them) six abreast (Orlando, in particular). Or, taking an escalator and they stand side by side blocking everyone. What can I say? I need to invent a better teleporter device…

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