A closer look
Paris transit authorities attempted to revolutionize the moving walkway in 2003 by installing a high-speed conveyor belt designed to move commuters at blazing speeds. This was supposed to dramatically cut walking times, but it mostly just functioned as a catapult for uncoordinated tourists. Because stepping from a stationary platform onto a fast-moving belt defies basic human motor skills, they had to design special acceleration and deceleration zones that grabbed passengers by the feet and yanked them up to speed. After numerous people fell over, lost their balance, or complained about motion sickness, the operating speed was drastically reduced, and the whole experiment was eventually ripped out in 2009. We learned the hard way that the general public simply cannot be trusted with a sidewalk that moves faster than a sluggish stroll
