At Columbus Circle the escalators at 58th Street are the responsibility of Time Warner—they're working 98% of the time, if not, there are stairs (which always work) or elevators that also usually always work...

After spending a couple of years in DC (and reading/commenting on DCist, which is a great sister site), I have to say that while we do need to hold our subway system operators accountable, there's gotta be something seriously effed with current mechanical design with regards to escalators. DC can't seem to keep the damn things going either, and just a week or so ago some woman fell into a pit (luckily unscathed) as the first couple of stairs gave way when she was on getting on.

Does anyone know enough about escalators to offer an opinion on their viability for intensely busy subway systems? Do they break down like this in other countries? A total random guess here, but perhaps they were designed for low to medium density foot traffic (like malls) and not for high and superhigh traffic situations?

Thoughts?

So do the right thing Jay Walder and resign!, you said it, you failed us. So why do we need you and your fat salary?

He is confused about that and will conduct an long-term study with expensive private consultants on this situation.

It's only one of eleven? I would have thought it was more like one in three.

For many of us, its !00 % of what we need is always freaking broken.

"an escalator can never break, it can only become stairs" - Mitch Hedberg

LOL
Now, take a look at the picture of stairs in a cage. Has it become an extreme sports challenge?