An inclined moving sidewalk at Beaudry metro station in Montreal
A moving sidewalk, moving walkway, slidewalk, travelator, travellator or trav-o-lator is a slow speed conveyor belt to transport people; they can walk along it or stand; it is like a horizontal escalator. They are often applied in pairs, one for each direction.
They are often used in airports where there is a long distance to walk between terminals, and in metro stations.
The speed is usually 3 km/h, but there is a high-speed version with a speed of 9 km/h at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris.
At least one person has been killed by such a system: Sally Baldwin, a professor of the University of York was crushed to death at Tiburtina Station in Rome on 28 October 2003 after a travelator collapsed and she was pulled into the cogwheels.
An inclined moving sidewalk, movator or moving ramp is used in airports and supermarkets to move people to another floor with the convenience of an elevator (people can take along their suitcase trolley or shopping cart) and the capacity of an escalator.
The carts have either a brake that is automatically applied when the cart handle is released, or specially designed wheels that secure the cart within the grooves of the ramp, so that it doesn't roll uncontrollably down the ramp.
In determining where to go on a moving sidewalk in the United States, the left side is for walking and the right side is for standing. A memory aid you can use is that "walk" and "left" have 4 letters and "stand" and "right" have 5 letters. In some other countries this custom is reversed, but not necessarily corresponding with the rules of the road: in London and Hong Kong one stands on the right, in Australia on the left.
See also
External links
Last updated: 09-01-2005 03:32:29
