"Standing on One Side vs. Both Sides"... Conclusion Reached After Spending 90 Million Won

The government gathered around 200 citizens for an in-depth deliberation to find safe ways to use escalators, but the conclusion stopped at merely strengthening the existing "three major safety rules."

On August 29, a citizen-participatory policy debate was held under the theme of "Improving the Culture of Safe Escalator Use."

Following expert presentations and panel discussions, the citizen participation group was divided into 25 breakout groups to discuss escalator usage methods and safety measures.

In surveys conducted before and after the discussion, responses favoring standing on both sides increased by 14.5 percentage points, from 31.4% to 45.9%.

Conversely, responses favoring standing on one side, which leaves one lane open for people in a hurry, decreased by 16.5 percentage points, from 29.9% to 13.4%.

Responses favoring flexible application depending on the situation rose by 0.6 percentage points, from 38.1% to 38.7%, showing little change.

Despite the fact that preference for standing on both sides actually increased through the discussion, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety decided not to uniformly recommend a specific queuing method.

The ministry plans to revise the "establishment of a both-sides standing culture" included in the 1st Elevator Safety Management Basic Plan to "establishing a voluntary safety culture through the daily practice of the three major safety rules and improvement of the usage environment," and will no longer pursue uniform campaigns and regulations for standing on both sides.

Instead, it plans to strengthen education and promotion regarding the existing three major safety rules: holding the handrail, not walking or running, and staying behind the safety line.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained that while preference for standing on both sides increased, there were also many opinions that it should be flexibly applied depending on the situation, and during the discussion process, more opinions were raised regarding safe usage behavior rather than the queuing method itself.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yang Bu-nam, the cost incurred for this discussion session addressing escalator issues was approximately 90 million won.

Consequently, some critics point out that it is necessary to examine whether the policy outcomes commensurate with the input cost were achieved and to review the selection of topics and operational methods for future debates.

(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Design by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.