Gene Lu

Improving Subway Staircases
Wednesday, 15 April 2009

The Disclaimer
I am not a civil engineer, although I was a computer engineer for a while, but that didn't work out too well.

Common Paths of Commuters
Common Paths of Commuters
The Problem
Have you ever noticed that when walking down a crowded subway staircase, especially during rush hour, there's usually a bottleneck somewhere? After some investigation, I discovered that in most cases, the staircase fails at the point where it makes the 180 degree turn. The diagram to the right shows the common paths traversed by commuters. The people on path B end up with less space than the people on path A, which then creates the bottleneck. I've also taken some pictures with my handy iPhone at the 14th street station to demonstrate this problem.

Bottlenecking at the 180 degree turn (where the statue is)
Bottlenecking at the 180 degree turn (where the statue is)


There are other problems that arise when dealing with staircases. One time, as I was making my way through the corridor at the 51st street/Lexington station, I noticed a homeless person in a wheelchair trying to slowly make their way down the staircase. It was an awful scene because his belongings were falling down the steps while yelling for help. Due to mob mentality, everyone stared as they walked by in hopes of a disaster waiting to happen.

True stories from the NYC subway stations
True stories from the NYC subway stations

A more common scenario that I've noticed is people with baby carriages. Luckily, there are still some decent people in NYC that actually help out in this case. Sure there are elevators available, but they are sometimes almost impossible to find.

What about gramps?
What about gramps?
Last, but not least, what about the elderly? You can’t possibly expect them to walk around the station in search of an elevator, do you? Speaking of which, last week, I was visiting my grandmother at the nursing home and all the elevators were out of service including the freight elevator. What do you think happened? None of the residents were able to use the stairwell, meaning that everyone was stuck on their respective floors.

The Solution
I propose that the NYC subway system consider spiral pathways that don't involve steps in order to get to the upper or lower levels of the station.

Stairwell vs Pathway (side view)
Stairwell vs Pathway (side view)

stairwell vs pathway (top view)
stairwell vs pathway (top view)

This approach solves most, if not all of the problems mentioned above. People with carriages will no longer have to wait for someone to help them up the stairs; people constrained to a wheelchair will no longer have second thoughts on taking the subway; and the elderly won't have to deal with climbing steps.

Pathway affords to be spiral-shaped
Pathway affords to be spiral-shaped
Not only is the spiral pathway functional, the design of it matches up with the common trajectories of daily commuters. In the diagram to the right, the pink areas show the space that's never utilized by commuters, except for maybe a musician trying to make a living. As you can see, the spiral pathway aligns with the common paths of commuters. The center of the spiral is also enlarged to prevent people from bottlenecking.

To accommodate the large influx of people, the entrance and exits of the pathways are wider. This creates a funneling effect, which allows people to position themselves before making their way up/down the spiral.

Wider entrances and exits
Wider entrances and exits
The Conclusion
I know there are some holes in this approach, like the angle of the slope, the need for higher ceilings to accommodate the spiral, and perhaps even the texture of the pathway (to prevent people from slipping), but I just wanted to get this idea out instead of having it sketched in my diary and forgotten.

Thanks and feel free to drop some feedback in the comment box below!

2009-04-16 09:55:53 Chris
So something like a mini gugenheim ramp? The problem is constructing a free standing spiral is much more difficult then the traditional rectangular stairs. Then you have the problem of runaway wheel chairs and carriages. Not to mention the allure the stairs will have to skateboarders.
2009-04-17 10:22:29 Gene
@Chris Yeah, I guess a mini gugg ramp would be a good description of it. I've also had some discussion with others about the size of this structure, if it was ever to be constructed, and it seems to be super impractical.

Some good points brought up by Darren (from another conversation):

1. the issue is with wayfinding and the maintenance of said elevators

2. given a choice for a person with a walker or a wheelchair, would they want to take a ramp or jump on an elevator?

3. conforming to the legal slope limit will making retrofitting in existing stairwell spaces impossible

Definitely all valid points, which makes me think what and how exactly can we improve existing subways besides redesigning the staircase.
2009-04-17 11:58:58 Steve
...not to mention it'd be a slippery nightmare during rainy/snowy days. The Newport path station has a slight decline leading to the path that gets very slick when it's wet. Cool that you've given this thought though.
2009-04-30 04:32:11 ian
Also the fact that a "Gugg" ramp would take 50x as much space to be able to maintain a non-steep grade.

I've got it... human catapult and waterslides!!! (Kidding) Good line of thought you have going though. I've been late to work a few times for helping moms get carriages up stairs.
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