LA: 0.46 meters/s (1 mph)

Hong Kong: 0.75 meters/s (1.7 mph)

Kyiv: 0.9 meters/s (2 mph)

Kinda slower than I expected in general. I assume the speed is mostly dictated by boarding/alighting safety.

The longest escalators in the Eastern hemisphere, at Wheaton Metro, which I've ridden many times, are apparently the same speed according to Wikipedia. So my gut feeling of maybe they did that because maybe they're short doesn't hold

That's what smartphoness are for ...

Decades of fecal matters gumming up the gears

I remember taking the escalators in Moscow in the 80s and thinking they were freakishly fast. According to this article they are not that fast. I wonder if they lowered the speed or it was just my lack of familiarity with long escalators.

I lived in DTLA for several years and regularly used Little Tokyo/Arts District station. It was not uncommon during peak hours to see people - myself included sliding down the railing.

I am 43 years old now and was much younger then (27-35) but I remember these days fondly. Now I live in NYC where public transit it so much better that this and many other issues that plague LA (especially the redline) do not exist but I do miss those days and look back on them fondly.

I still have at least 1 scar I can attribute to trying this whilst wearing the wrong pants (in terms of fabric).