Check out this YouTube video post, about the escalators? Maybe a silly post, but I thought it was cool. The escalators in the Berlin Convention center are on auto pilot, based on motion. As you approach the escalator, it happily comes alive to serve you. When there is no one on the escalator it turns it self off, presumably to save power.
In the states, if you see an escalator that is stopped, you automatically look for stairs, or an elevator to change floors, especially if you're going up.
This seems like a great/simple way to save a lot of energy!
Good job - whoever thought of that first :)
5 comment(s)
Yep this is pretty common in Europe. As a side effect, if the escalator is actually broken and doesn't start moving when I enter it, I almost fall down ;)
I like your statements of the "way of life" in Berlin. I'm one of these guys, who are traveling to the US Teched every year from Germany. This year I've been a little bit in trouble to justify my decision because I live in Berlin :-).
I will never forget the situation at the Teched in Dallas, when more than 50 buses stood in front of the conference center with running engines to keep the temperature. But these thinks has been changed in US. In LA this year, they had less than 20 buses running in the morning and evening, no buses were waiting more then 15 Minutes with engines running.
Have a nice time in my hometown.
Volker
Hehe, yep, that's common in Europe. And yeah, it can happen, that you just stand there as a fool, if it's broken :)
PS: Thanks for great last session at TechEd, a lot of nice little tricks for making my (developer) life easier :)
It might be common in newer venues but I don't think it's common in Europe. I have yet to see one in Paris. It could be a good idea, but most people assume that an escalator not moving is out of service.
In Berlin its really common. I live there and every new escalator has auto on off. There are also escalators which move in both directions (for example in Hamburg), depending where are the people right now. When you stay upstairs they go down but when you stay downstairs, they go up.