An experimental pedestrian fast lane system deployed in England allows speedy walkers to circumvent gawking tourists and window shoppers.
Implemented by retailer Argos adjacent to a shopping complex in Liverpool, the Fast Track is a trial run (or: really fast walk) for separating dawdlers from power walkers.
If it seems like a marketing stunt, consider this: close to 30,000,000 Brits favor fast lanes for busy pedestrian thoroughfares. Close to a third surveyed in a recent study responded that they would approve of some consistent solution to slow-moving foot traffic.
As in similar attempts elsewhere, like NYC’s half-joking painted pavement markings dividing New Yorkers from Tourists, the aim is to provide clear paths for different paces, segregated by speed, cellphone use or other factors, indoors or outside.
This latest variant may only be temporary, but a store spokesperson says it is there by popular demand and if successful the same idea could continue to spread to other private and public spaces.
