Then there’s the added bonus that it may finally stop people from being jerks on the escalator—like the London commuter captured in a viral video this year telling a blind man with a guide dog to let go of the handrail so he can pass him.
Someone with a guide dog -- a clear signal of special need -- can have their need for reasonable accommodation utterly ignored. It can be worse for the many people who are less obviously impaired who lack some clear public signal.
I'm seriously handicapped. Most people cannot tell that by looking at me. I gave up my car more than a decade ago and I mostly get around by walking, so a lot of people see me as unusually able-bodied because I walk everywhere.
But I have serious trouble navigating certain situations, such as stairs. Escalators are hard for me because they are moving and I'm visually impaired and I walk with a permanent limp and I have joint issues and yadda. It's stressful for me to deal with the transition to step onto the escalator and stressful for me to deal with the transition to step off the escalator and I generally cannot cope with walking on the escalator. I stand on it.