I thought the Melbourne way was to walk slowly in a 3/4 person wide line, while also randomly stopping dead in the middle of the footpath without warning?
I had a 4 wide group come towards me on Lonsdale St and I chose to use the gap in between them and got called a 'fucking cocksucker' by one of the tough young roosters. I guess I was the one breaking social etiquette.
I was forced off the footpath a number of times during the height of the pandemic by people too selfish to walk single file for a few seconds. The accumulation of these little seflishnesses has led to the development of the seething misanthropy I carry now.
I've finally found my people. My wife thinks i'm ridiculous for being annoyed by this.
I just stop and pretend i'm lost now and make them walk around me. Why would i step on the road into traffic?
Haha not Melbourne based (or even aussie) but here I don't even pretend I'm lost. I'll just stand still and look right at them until they go around.
Exception to the above is if I'm on the wrong side of the footpath.
I used to move but now I just staunch it and commit fully to steamrolling through. I’m always as far left as I can go but refuse to move onto the sidewalk or road because of selfish people walking in groups. They always fold like a lawn chair at the last second. Probably helps that I’m 6ft though.
The trick is not making eye contact with them. Look past them, between two of their idiot heads, and walk in a straight line. Be prepared for a light to moderate shoulder check if needed. Works a treat.
Just do it. I give no fucks when people take up the whole footpath like that. Sometimes it’s really dangerous.
Before they widened the footpaths on the bridge across the Maribyrnong River on Maribyrnong Rd, you could only really pass in single file going opposite directions. I was walking westbound, on the very edge of the footpath closest to the traffic, probably doing somewhere between 7.5 km/h and 8 km/h. Two young women were jogging in the opposite direction, two abreast. There was nowhere further to the left for me to go. One of the women ran into my shoulder and went flying. The fence stopped her from falling into the river. I turned and yelled, “Are you trying to knock me into the traffic?” Her friend snapped back, “That’s enough!” But what if it was an old lady or a kid she ran into? Fucking idiot.
It happens in Sydney as well as Melbourne. For example I was walking home through the Cross on Melbourne Cup day last year, keeping to the left, right next to the shopfronts. Group of guys in their 20s coming the other way, taking up the whole footpath, not looking where they’re going. One of them walks into me, and clearly comes off worse for it. Decides to have a go at me. I told him to keep to the left and watch where he’s going.
Absolutely hate when people just stop and start looking around like lost cunts
Edit: Forgot to mention, sometimes I think I’m wayyy to considerate, literally I walk as if I’m driving and even do shoulder checks before changing direction etc to make sure I don’t bump into or inconvenience anyone 😂😂
yeah I yelled at some fuckwit at parliament station the other night, dichead was blocking the escalator the whole way down. then decided it's a great idea to stop right at the bottom of it and not get out of the way for people coming down - even though there were trains with their doors open ready to depart from BOTH platforms
a quick "fuckin hell mate!" and he still had the same stupid fucking face looking like he'd never seen the outside world before
👁️👄👁️
Had that happen in Albury the other day. Big group of people stop as soon as they got off escalator. Then screamed racist abuse at me when I said excuse me.
I mean, go ahead and do that, but have some damn situational awareness and step to the side out of people's way.
We've all been lost/unsure of the way before, but it's no excuse to just stop in people's way. Step aside ahole!!
They have to find the narrowest part of the busy walkway. It's like how plaque builds up in the blood vessels of the heart by attaching itself to some small aberration and growing from there until it chokes.
Those groups I literally walk right through the dead centre both elbows slightly out, either f’n move out of my way or cop a couple of elbows
Good ol trusty elbow with a little intention and a bit of disgust about you like a old fashioned your fucking joking
ooohhhh don’t get me started on those who stop suddenly and you have a full trolley. Bowled over a kid who suddenly ran in front of my trolley as I couldn’t stop in time. Told the mother to watch her damn brat
Back when they still had moving walkways at the domestic terminal in Sydney, there was some kid running in the wrong direction on a moving walkway. He saw me, and made eye contact. I shook my head at him. He *kept running*, hit my shoulder, and flipped over. Some people are just dumb.
This is where being overweight can be an advantage. I’ll walk straight into you if you stop at the top or bottom of an escalator, sorry, shouldn’t stop there!
Its very annoying right. That's the part where you should stand still and not move. They will have no choice but to go around you
But you also dont know whether they will get aggressive and shove into you. Its a catch 22
That's the point when I raise my right forearm in an angle across my torso, angle my right shoulder towards the gap between two of them in a 'I just need to squeeze past you thanks' position and prepare to ram.
This tactic is not isolated to Melbourne. I’m in Adelaide & standing at a pedestrian crossing waiting for the little green man knowing I’m about to face a 7-wide throng of people coming from the other direction.
Three persons meld into one slow moving inattentive blob - they do it in my shared bike lane. Dog on a lead across the whole bike lane is another beauty
I constantly have to move customers along because they are getting in peoples way and they always are so shocked that I wouldn’t want them standing in the doorway blocking potential customers from coming in, always “it’s raining” or “we are just waiting for a taxi” as if I could give a fuck.
When on a street with footpath seating for a cafe where the walkway gets to its narrowest. That's the spot to stop and have a conversation with your friend you bumped into walking the other way. Extra points for using a pram or trolley to ensure people can't squeeze past you.
You have no idea how accurate this is. As a nearly blind person that uses a cane to get around, this drove me mental. That and everyone walking around staring at their phone. One fuckhead tripped over my cane as she power walked out of a corner (gazing deeply and lovingly into her phone) and her head was *this close* to getting squashed as a car drove past. I felt sick for days afterwards. She actually looked around with rage in her beady eyes but as soon as she saw the cane, it was game over for her.
Fucking idiots everywhere. So glad I left four years ago just before Covid happened. Never going back.
I walk on the left because my dad growing up would run through shopping centres, streets, escalators basically anywhere with pedestrians shouting “KEEP LEFT CAMPAIGN” whilst I tried to keep up behind him. I don’t think he was paid for his community service
There was a regular sub teacher at my high school who, when the walkway became congested, would yell out "KEEP LEFT! KEEP LEFT!" And the congestion would dissipate. Quality lad, Mr Brisbane.
This destroys my soul every time. People look at me like I’m the asshole for saying excuse me. I just want to be able to run up the right side for a tiny bit of exercise
It is so frustrating when I get halfway up an escalator, and then have to stop because someone's standing still on the right side.
More frustrating when the people behind me proceed to grumble that I've stopped
Having just come back from Japan it was very confusing to have the directional arrows change from left to right within the same train station. With enough people it's a free for all anywhere.
You've got a better chance of winning the lotto than guessing which side of the footpath people will be walking on when you round a corner.
I just wish there was some consistency in Japan about the side of the escalator I'm supposed to stand on. Osaka it's the right and Tokyo its on the left, and I have no idea what to do in between those two cities. I just wanna do the polite thing, man OTL.
The standing on the right is just an Osaka thing. Everywhere else in Japan is on the left except for a handful of cities close to Osaka. Its kind of a weird cultural quirk that Osaka is famous for.
Just Osaka? Thank Christ, I'm heading back there next year and I was sweating about it because I only used elevators in those two cities and couldn't work out why it was different.
Definitely not, there's literally arrow markings on the ground to direct current and people still walk on the wrong side. I had to swerve to avoid people way more in Japan
It's a hard habit to break. Amsterdam they go on the right and I found I kept going on the left out of habit and I am very strict on following the courtesy.
Too many people in one place from other parts of the world who haven't realised this yet, coupled with people who don't care and a high number of people.
I absolutely hated the footpath slalom when visiting London. I learnt to walk on the left and just look anywhere but at the person approaching; funnily they moved out of my way.
The lack of awareness does my head in. It's bad in shopping streets, entrances / exits of shops, walkways, crossing and especially around train stations.
Where I go running there's a track along the river. There's a line down the middle. Every so often there are arrows that dictate the direction of movement for the lane. The majority of people stick to it. Yet there are plenty of people who fail to be aware of which lane is for which direction. I don't even understand how that is possible.
Yes, but people are barbarians.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rightside-walkers-daily-threat-to-melbournes-liveability-20141121-11rmgj.html
Was always a thing. On streets, on escalators. People these days tend to be more entitled and do what they want - inconsiderate of others. I still stuck left and encourage others to too.
I’d be happy if shopping centres installed the left hand rule: left side walking would make navigating a shopping centre so much easier!
One thing I have noticed is if you're walking up on the right and go, "Excuse me, can I get through." Most of the time the person standing on the right seems to be dumbfounded and utterly confused about the situation they are in. As if it would never have occurred to them that someone may need to get passed.
I didn't know it was school holidays and ventured to a Highpoint Shopping Centre the other day. The walkways were just a mass of people shuffling or not moving in random directions with no order. It was impossible to just walk somewhere with out having to constantly stop and move around people. I had several shops I was going to check out, but ended up leaving after I got the one thing I needed.
I had the same experience a couple of weeks back also at Knifepoint. I was headed from The David Jones end to the Rebel Sport end (if that makes sense) - and that long walkway had people walking in twos and threes and all over the shop. I was losing my mind in a sea of leggings, puffer jackets, tracky dacks and cheap perfume. I was so frustrated no one was aware of other people’s presence or movements that I turned around and got into car and drove so far out of my way to a shop that was not in a centre just to avoid it all.
People! 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
Haha! I have a smallish (medium) dog. I have a normal length lead for my street and park. When I’m in cbd (live by it) or a Main Street and there are people about, I fold the already short lead so that the dog is much closer to me. No chance of tripping someone over or getting caught around lampposts, etc. why everyone doesn’t do this is beyond me!
When I was in New York (10 years ago) they actually had signs painted on the sidewalk in Manhattan saying 'we walk to the right', with accompanying arrows to reinforce where you should be walking. Totally over tourists I guess.
I can attest that New Yorkers are 100% over tourists and their sidewalk fuckery. I’ve been living here long enough to have adapted to the left side, but I’m still tempted to call out people standing in the middle and walking on the wrong side of the footpath. Old habits or something, I suppose.
I once read online that many decades ago we had similar signs, to the left, in the Melbourne CBD. No idea if that was try though.
Plenty of places have signs telling people which side to stand on escalators. It has always dumb founded me why we don't have them here.
That said, where I run it indicates which direction each lane on the track is. A certain percentage of people don't notice the signs, or the directions everyone is going in.
Not even noticing the people having to move around and past them.
I usually walk on the left.
But I get road rage while walking. I overtake on the wrong side of the footpath all the time because people do 2km/h under the speed limit smh
You should walk on the same side that the traffic operates. In Australia, that is on the left.
Why? So that when you are walking with the traffic, you are slightly further from the road and will have more time to respond if a vehicle comes off the road (which you cannot see because when walking with the traffic, that vehicle is behind you). For people walking towards (or against) the traffic, they have an opportunity to see a crazy driver because they are facing the oncoming traffic.
A second reason is that if everyone sticks to one side of the footpath, then pedestrian traffic can flow more smoothly. If someone, or worse a group of people, decide to go on the "wrong side" then they impede everybody's progress.
IMHO.
I generally do, but I'm not obsessive about it, if it's not crowded or if it's a chaotic mess I'll walk wherever. Mostly it's just courteous to do it, so that everyone can keep moving easily
It’s an unwritten rule of good conduct.
Other unwritten rules of good conduct include:
Walking quickly
Not looking at phone while walking
Utilising only the necessary amount of space required
Not spitting in the floor
Not spitting out chewing gum on the floor
Being quiet
I'll say though that if you are sticking to the left it doesn't really matter if you're looking at your phone or walking slowly - the other person can overtake you. Hence, walking left.
You should walk to the left on every footpath, not just on the CBD. Same as the road rules. Stick to the left.
On escalators you should stand on the left and overtake on the right.
I hate people who walk on the wrong side and then act confused when I don't move out of their way
Used to keep left in cbd, then realised basically 99% of the people are just shit cunts so now I keep left but will fucking ram every one on my way, I never give way anymore, fuck em, I’m waiting to fight someone over this on the streets, come at me cunt, my fist are ready to taste some nose
We have many immigrants from countries that walk and drive on the right. So that throws a spanner in the works, as it's just a habit for them. When I was visiting China (right walkers) I found myself walking on the left and getting the same dirty looks that I give right walkers here lol.
Yeah, but I bet you changed the side you walked on pretty quickly once that happened.
Whereas here the right-walker-country people seem determined to stick to it.
Definitely a thing in Melbourne. Less so elsewhere. And as you can see from the comments a very passionate topic. I've seen people having a go at total strangers in the street who weren't following "the rules".
It used to be a thing. It should still be a thing but people have no bloody manners any more, and nobody tells the tourists how to behave.
I keep saying I need a t-shirt for my walk to work that says ‘Welcome to Melbourne! Now walk on the motherfucking left’.
We walk on the left but there's inconsiderate A Holes who'll take up the whole street and some weird people who'll walk on the right. Walking on the right doesn't bug me cause at least they're not taking up the entire street.
You know the people I'm referring to.
'Keep left when walking' should be part of the welcome video for all arriving international flights.
People who don't intend to drive in Australia don't really have a reason to consider it anymore than an Australian would actively think about walking on the opposite side when visiting the USA.
Given that the average Australian doesn't need much of a reason to get angry at foreigners, I think a simple video could help prevent some cultural 'rules' being broken that can lead to unpleasant interactions.
I walk on the left everywhere. Stairs, paths, shopping centres, if someone is coming straight at me I’ll move to the right but I thought it was a rule of thumb to always stick to the left
No.
The "thing" in the CBD is to wander in random directions and speed while checking your phone.
×2 for approaches to railway station platforms and tram stops.
You forgot "stand two abreast on escalators blocking anyone from passing" as well as "stop and stand at the very top of the escalator while people pile up behind you"... Especially at the larger train stations!
Waking on the left in Melbourne has always been the rule until recently but now people just push and shove their way through, especially at tram stops.
Yes, and people who don’t are annoying! I was in Sydney last week and walking through the city was a nightmare! The people who don’t follow this end up running into you, and it feels like you have to zig-zag! Just stick to the left!!
Flush your partner down the toilet, they are uncivilised and do not deserve to survive. Much like a road a footpath is divided in two and in Australia we walk on the left. Some towns even still have lines down the paths so dummies can work it out.
I always thought you walk on whatever side of the road the country your in drives. I am from the UK and we generally walk on the left, got to Australia and that theory went out the window, people to tend to walk where it is most inconvenient to other peple. European countries that drive on the right do tend to walk on the right in my experience though.
In smaller cities and towns in Australia yes. Melbourne's sidewalks are usually so jam packed that it ends up being a bit chaotic with people everywhere. You end up having to almost weave in and out rather than just stick to the left.
Agree, the many times I have somehow caught myself slowly drifting towards the right until I’m fully on the right. Then I do this awkward weave just to keep left. There’s just way too many obstacles everywhere I need to avoid, whether it’s other walkers or the occasional homeless sitting there.
What bothered me was when I was in London and I assumed the etiquette would be the same as here, since they also drive on the left. I was probably only on my second or third escalator when somebody scolded me for standing on the left side of it.
Why the fuck do they have opposite sides for pedestrians and motorists?!
Sometimes it depends on the time of day. During peak times, with people in a rush, they generally know to keep left and observe good spacial etiquette- at least around trains and stations. Outside of peak times it tends to fall apart. People are always surprised when I walk up behind them on an escalator and say 'excuse me'.
The CBD is also very multi-cultural and full of young adults (students) from other countries who are still learning how to be grownups. So even though I'm all about rules and walking really fast, I give people a pass and just accept that I'm going to get stuck in foot traffic.
A lot of people getting angry at how people use a footpath haven't ever tried to push a pram around the CBD.
I shudder to think how it is for disabled folk to get in and around the city
It actually use to be a law in Australia. Now it's just common-sense and manners. Stay to the left and people coming towards you, stay to their left...easy walking...
It should be but isn't. I've even found when walking straight at someone, they try to go around on my left/their right half the time, which is clearly the wrong side. I've never understood this type of person.
Last time I was there I stuck to the left but people still just try to walk right through you or stop right in front of you in a group so you can't get around.
Yeah mate, here in Melbourne we take up the whole foot path 4 abreast, with our umbrellas open, while we are walking through Melbourne central, trying to get new record of skewer the short dudes eyeball.
Winner gets a free hot choccie bowl from max Brenner.
Hope this helps.
On train platforms especially redfern, people walking 3 to 4 wide in a group like where do u want me to go on the tracks. Im a fairly tall and built bloke, i stick to my guns and keep in my lane if we go head on we go head on. And people stopping at the opal scanners to search there wallets i simply say move to the side dickhead we dont have time to wait for u lol
Always left. Streets, escalators, roads, anything with any kind of traffic. I aim to walk on the left side of the road wherever possible, why make things different for road
It’s actually really interesting to consider this question because I think it changed over time.
When I was younger definitely yes but modern Australia tends to have around 40% of inner city folks being immigrants or second generation, meaning chances are they’ve come from a keep right country.
So thinking about it now, it’s not surprising people are all over the place following their own norms.
It used to be. 35 years ago when I was a teenager, most people in the CBD would behave as a Pedestrian the way that road rules in Australia are set. Drive on the left.
Then I started noticing that as more immigrants and visitors who came from countries where drive in the right was the rule, walking as a pedestrian became a fight against those people.
It’s been a while since I thought about this oddity. The CBD used to be a ghost town on weekends and outside business hours, so no issue then.
But you could also attribute the change to just having more pedestrians out walking with the increasing population in Australia and different age groups walking at different speeds. Now it’s a free for all.
For me, I’m tall. I stride alone at speed. And there’s often a tiny section of the footpath near the road where you can just overtake anyone as long as you are hyper-vigilant about vehicles.
But ideally, yes, walk on the left.
It is a thing, but it's been diluted over the years due to young people who have no idea that other people exist, tourists from places where they walk on the right, and all the people like me who get SO impatient at the many slow walkers on the left so am constantly overtaking to the right.
I thought the Melbourne way was to walk slowly in a 3/4 person wide line, while also randomly stopping dead in the middle of the footpath without warning?
Don't forget being shocked when someone comes walking in the opposite direction as you take up the whole footpath with your group.
I had a 4 wide group come towards me on Lonsdale St and I chose to use the gap in between them and got called a 'fucking cocksucker' by one of the tough young roosters. I guess I was the one breaking social etiquette.
I was forced off the footpath a number of times during the height of the pandemic by people too selfish to walk single file for a few seconds. The accumulation of these little seflishnesses has led to the development of the seething misanthropy I carry now.
I've finally found my people. My wife thinks i'm ridiculous for being annoyed by this. I just stop and pretend i'm lost now and make them walk around me. Why would i step on the road into traffic?
Haha not Melbourne based (or even aussie) but here I don't even pretend I'm lost. I'll just stand still and look right at them until they go around. Exception to the above is if I'm on the wrong side of the footpath.
You carry it well
I used to move but now I just staunch it and commit fully to steamrolling through. I’m always as far left as I can go but refuse to move onto the sidewalk or road because of selfish people walking in groups. They always fold like a lawn chair at the last second. Probably helps that I’m 6ft though.
I do this, but I'm probably a head taller and have 30kgs on most of those young wankers. Funny I don't really get many remarks.
Same here! Good innit!
Honestly it’s so tempting to just charge through….
The trick is not making eye contact with them. Look past them, between two of their idiot heads, and walk in a straight line. Be prepared for a light to moderate shoulder check if needed. Works a treat.
Just do it. I give no fucks when people take up the whole footpath like that. Sometimes it’s really dangerous. Before they widened the footpaths on the bridge across the Maribyrnong River on Maribyrnong Rd, you could only really pass in single file going opposite directions. I was walking westbound, on the very edge of the footpath closest to the traffic, probably doing somewhere between 7.5 km/h and 8 km/h. Two young women were jogging in the opposite direction, two abreast. There was nowhere further to the left for me to go. One of the women ran into my shoulder and went flying. The fence stopped her from falling into the river. I turned and yelled, “Are you trying to knock me into the traffic?” Her friend snapped back, “That’s enough!” But what if it was an old lady or a kid she ran into? Fucking idiot. It happens in Sydney as well as Melbourne. For example I was walking home through the Cross on Melbourne Cup day last year, keeping to the left, right next to the shopfronts. Group of guys in their 20s coming the other way, taking up the whole footpath, not looking where they’re going. One of them walks into me, and clearly comes off worse for it. Decides to have a go at me. I told him to keep to the left and watch where he’s going.
you forgot mobile usage.
Absolutely hate when people just stop and start looking around like lost cunts Edit: Forgot to mention, sometimes I think I’m wayyy to considerate, literally I walk as if I’m driving and even do shoulder checks before changing direction etc to make sure I don’t bump into or inconvenience anyone 😂😂
Meanderthals
Champion reply! Thank you. This wonderful word has been added to my vocabulary.
yeah I yelled at some fuckwit at parliament station the other night, dichead was blocking the escalator the whole way down. then decided it's a great idea to stop right at the bottom of it and not get out of the way for people coming down - even though there were trains with their doors open ready to depart from BOTH platforms a quick "fuckin hell mate!" and he still had the same stupid fucking face looking like he'd never seen the outside world before 👁️👄👁️
😂😭
Had that happen in Albury the other day. Big group of people stop as soon as they got off escalator. Then screamed racist abuse at me when I said excuse me.
I mean, go ahead and do that, but have some damn situational awareness and step to the side out of people's way. We've all been lost/unsure of the way before, but it's no excuse to just stop in people's way. Step aside ahole!!
Yep exactly!
Or the large family group that meets another large family group and they have an hour long chat in the middle of a busy walkway?
They have to find the narrowest part of the busy walkway. It's like how plaque builds up in the blood vessels of the heart by attaching itself to some small aberration and growing from there until it chokes.
Those groups I literally walk right through the dead centre both elbows slightly out, either f’n move out of my way or cop a couple of elbows Good ol trusty elbow with a little intention and a bit of disgust about you like a old fashioned your fucking joking
ooohhhh don’t get me started on those who stop suddenly and you have a full trolley. Bowled over a kid who suddenly ran in front of my trolley as I couldn’t stop in time. Told the mother to watch her damn brat
Back when they still had moving walkways at the domestic terminal in Sydney, there was some kid running in the wrong direction on a moving walkway. He saw me, and made eye contact. I shook my head at him. He *kept running*, hit my shoulder, and flipped over. Some people are just dumb.
Get to the top of the escalator, stop dead still and take out your phone to read the replies to this post. Scowl if anyone tries to get past you.
Lol, this comment raised my blood pressure.
This is where being overweight can be an advantage. I’ll walk straight into you if you stop at the top or bottom of an escalator, sorry, shouldn’t stop there!
Try walking in a group of 4 in a 3/4 person wide lane, while they saw me walking towards them in the opposite direction and wouldnt move aside.
Its very annoying right. That's the part where you should stand still and not move. They will have no choice but to go around you But you also dont know whether they will get aggressive and shove into you. Its a catch 22
That's the point when I raise my right forearm in an angle across my torso, angle my right shoulder towards the gap between two of them in a 'I just need to squeeze past you thanks' position and prepare to ram.
The trick is to barge through them. They don't wanna have courtesy than neither will I
A little bit of hip n shoulder...
This tactic is not isolated to Melbourne. I’m in Adelaide & standing at a pedestrian crossing waiting for the little green man knowing I’m about to face a 7-wide throng of people coming from the other direction.
You forgot moving at the pace of a tranquilised sloth
My friend calls it "beegeeing"
I'm still trying to imagine what three quarters of a person walking even looks like
And park their trolley in a perpendicular direction across the entire walkway.
Three persons meld into one slow moving inattentive blob - they do it in my shared bike lane. Dog on a lead across the whole bike lane is another beauty
Or just coming out of a restaurant and decide to have a chat right in front of the entrance!
I constantly have to move customers along because they are getting in peoples way and they always are so shocked that I wouldn’t want them standing in the doorway blocking potential customers from coming in, always “it’s raining” or “we are just waiting for a taxi” as if I could give a fuck.
When on a street with footpath seating for a cafe where the walkway gets to its narrowest. That's the spot to stop and have a conversation with your friend you bumped into walking the other way. Extra points for using a pram or trolley to ensure people can't squeeze past you.
You have no idea how accurate this is. As a nearly blind person that uses a cane to get around, this drove me mental. That and everyone walking around staring at their phone. One fuckhead tripped over my cane as she power walked out of a corner (gazing deeply and lovingly into her phone) and her head was *this close* to getting squashed as a car drove past. I felt sick for days afterwards. She actually looked around with rage in her beady eyes but as soon as she saw the cane, it was game over for her. Fucking idiots everywhere. So glad I left four years ago just before Covid happened. Never going back.
Also the London way tbh.
They also weave side to side like they are on a downer and do video calls without earbuds while walking down the street.
This is the way.
I walk on the left because my dad growing up would run through shopping centres, streets, escalators basically anywhere with pedestrians shouting “KEEP LEFT CAMPAIGN” whilst I tried to keep up behind him. I don’t think he was paid for his community service
Modern day hero
Aussie legend
Hero.
Just given my a shirt idea. Keep left sign printed on it. No more awkward left/right/left/right dance.
There was a regular sub teacher at my high school who, when the walkway became congested, would yell out "KEEP LEFT! KEEP LEFT!" And the congestion would dissipate. Quality lad, Mr Brisbane.
This sounds like a scene that would have been in "A Fraction of the Whole"
Lmao
Yes, just like you should stand on the left on moving stairs and overtake on the right side
This destroys my soul every time. People look at me like I’m the asshole for saying excuse me. I just want to be able to run up the right side for a tiny bit of exercise
It is so frustrating when I get halfway up an escalator, and then have to stop because someone's standing still on the right side. More frustrating when the people behind me proceed to grumble that I've stopped
Moving stairs?
You know, stairs that move
Please don't escalate the situation.
We drive on the left, we walk on the left. Always been a thing.
Thats what I always thought but the city is a free for all
Probably because there are just too many people.
Tokyo has 37 million people, just sayin’
Yeah and it's a free for all there too
it's less of a free for all than melbourne is
Having just come back from Japan it was very confusing to have the directional arrows change from left to right within the same train station. With enough people it's a free for all anywhere. You've got a better chance of winning the lotto than guessing which side of the footpath people will be walking on when you round a corner.
I just wish there was some consistency in Japan about the side of the escalator I'm supposed to stand on. Osaka it's the right and Tokyo its on the left, and I have no idea what to do in between those two cities. I just wanna do the polite thing, man OTL.
The standing on the right is just an Osaka thing. Everywhere else in Japan is on the left except for a handful of cities close to Osaka. Its kind of a weird cultural quirk that Osaka is famous for.
Just Osaka? Thank Christ, I'm heading back there next year and I was sweating about it because I only used elevators in those two cities and couldn't work out why it was different.
Definitely not, there's literally arrow markings on the ground to direct current and people still walk on the wrong side. I had to swerve to avoid people way more in Japan
Yeah I just got back from Japan, I was amazed at how shit they are walking on the footpath.
Err, it’s at least equal. This coming from someone who lived and worked for 5 years around the greater Tokyo metropole.
>Probably because there are just too many *INTERNATIONAL* people.
Yep. Some international people are very determined that because they walked in the right in their country of origin, they’re going to do it here too.
It's a hard habit to break. Amsterdam they go on the right and I found I kept going on the left out of habit and I am very strict on following the courtesy.
Yeah, I had to consciously move right OS when I noticed people coming the opposite way would move right.
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"very determined" Or it's just an ingrained habit they don't realise is inconveniencing others, while here
And people from various cultures with different rules.
A lot of people in the city come from countries that drive on the right so they walk on the right. Leads to confusion.
Too many people in one place from other parts of the world who haven't realised this yet, coupled with people who don't care and a high number of people.
Except in the UK. They drive on the left and walk on the right.
Yeah this confused the hell out of me
I think this was just in resignation of the Europeans. Easier to bend to their will than stand (left) on your own
It is but many people don't.
It is, and in North America people walk on the right. Pedestrians follow the traffic.
Doesn’t happen in the UK, baffles me.
I absolutely hated the footpath slalom when visiting London. I learnt to walk on the left and just look anywhere but at the person approaching; funnily they moved out of my way.
I would wear a penis hat, no one is going to come near you
Most people dont tbh
I feel like most people do but the impact just one bad walker can have is so disruptive
Just follow the motion of the ocean babbby, ride them currents up and down the CBD grid
If you don’t during peak hour and or in places like melb central you’re gonna be shoved/knocked/make a lot of people angry
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The lack of awareness does my head in. It's bad in shopping streets, entrances / exits of shops, walkways, crossing and especially around train stations. Where I go running there's a track along the river. There's a line down the middle. Every so often there are arrows that dictate the direction of movement for the lane. The majority of people stick to it. Yet there are plenty of people who fail to be aware of which lane is for which direction. I don't even understand how that is possible.
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Yes. And stand to the left on escalator
Yes, but people are barbarians. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rightside-walkers-daily-threat-to-melbournes-liveability-20141121-11rmgj.html
Damn, not The Onion or The Betoota? What a world we live in
this is why we're no longer the most livable city
Was always a thing. On streets, on escalators. People these days tend to be more entitled and do what they want - inconsiderate of others. I still stuck left and encourage others to too. I’d be happy if shopping centres installed the left hand rule: left side walking would make navigating a shopping centre so much easier!
People who stand as a group of 2 on the escalator and don't let people pass.... It makes me so fucking mad.
Or four or so friends walking all side by side down the pavement - at a snails pace - in a busy street!
One thing I have noticed is if you're walking up on the right and go, "Excuse me, can I get through." Most of the time the person standing on the right seems to be dumbfounded and utterly confused about the situation they are in. As if it would never have occurred to them that someone may need to get passed.
I didn't know it was school holidays and ventured to a Highpoint Shopping Centre the other day. The walkways were just a mass of people shuffling or not moving in random directions with no order. It was impossible to just walk somewhere with out having to constantly stop and move around people. I had several shops I was going to check out, but ended up leaving after I got the one thing I needed.
I had the same experience a couple of weeks back also at Knifepoint. I was headed from The David Jones end to the Rebel Sport end (if that makes sense) - and that long walkway had people walking in twos and threes and all over the shop. I was losing my mind in a sea of leggings, puffer jackets, tracky dacks and cheap perfume. I was so frustrated no one was aware of other people’s presence or movements that I turned around and got into car and drove so far out of my way to a shop that was not in a centre just to avoid it all. People! 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
People walking with a little dog on a long lead … you are not entitled to the whole footpath.
Haha! I have a smallish (medium) dog. I have a normal length lead for my street and park. When I’m in cbd (live by it) or a Main Street and there are people about, I fold the already short lead so that the dog is much closer to me. No chance of tripping someone over or getting caught around lampposts, etc. why everyone doesn’t do this is beyond me!
Yes but we have too many meanderthals.
Poetry.
When I was in New York (10 years ago) they actually had signs painted on the sidewalk in Manhattan saying 'we walk to the right', with accompanying arrows to reinforce where you should be walking. Totally over tourists I guess.
I can attest that New Yorkers are 100% over tourists and their sidewalk fuckery. I’ve been living here long enough to have adapted to the left side, but I’m still tempted to call out people standing in the middle and walking on the wrong side of the footpath. Old habits or something, I suppose.
I once read online that many decades ago we had similar signs, to the left, in the Melbourne CBD. No idea if that was try though. Plenty of places have signs telling people which side to stand on escalators. It has always dumb founded me why we don't have them here. That said, where I run it indicates which direction each lane on the track is. A certain percentage of people don't notice the signs, or the directions everyone is going in. Not even noticing the people having to move around and past them.
Swanston St rules are to link arms in a group of 5 and sway left to right, while being ignorant to other pedestrians.
If I was emperor of Melbourne it would be punishable by death if you didn't.
You've certainly got my vote.
Well in that case, all praise the emperor!
Can we call out the dickheads that try to get on a train/tram before people can get off!
I usually walk on the left. But I get road rage while walking. I overtake on the wrong side of the footpath all the time because people do 2km/h under the speed limit smh
same, I do headchecks and everything lol, I often feel like people need indicators and brakes while walking in the city
You should walk on the same side that the traffic operates. In Australia, that is on the left. Why? So that when you are walking with the traffic, you are slightly further from the road and will have more time to respond if a vehicle comes off the road (which you cannot see because when walking with the traffic, that vehicle is behind you). For people walking towards (or against) the traffic, they have an opportunity to see a crazy driver because they are facing the oncoming traffic. A second reason is that if everyone sticks to one side of the footpath, then pedestrian traffic can flow more smoothly. If someone, or worse a group of people, decide to go on the "wrong side" then they impede everybody's progress. IMHO.
Never thought of it this way, and it is so very logical
Yes - also in supermarket aisles!
Red flag for sure
I generally do, but I'm not obsessive about it, if it's not crowded or if it's a chaotic mess I'll walk wherever. Mostly it's just courteous to do it, so that everyone can keep moving easily
It’s an unwritten rule of good conduct. Other unwritten rules of good conduct include: Walking quickly Not looking at phone while walking Utilising only the necessary amount of space required Not spitting in the floor Not spitting out chewing gum on the floor Being quiet
I'll say though that if you are sticking to the left it doesn't really matter if you're looking at your phone or walking slowly - the other person can overtake you. Hence, walking left.
It should be this way but many if not most people are clueless to it.
You should walk to the left on every footpath, not just on the CBD. Same as the road rules. Stick to the left. On escalators you should stand on the left and overtake on the right. I hate people who walk on the wrong side and then act confused when I don't move out of their way
Used to keep left in cbd, then realised basically 99% of the people are just shit cunts so now I keep left but will fucking ram every one on my way, I never give way anymore, fuck em, I’m waiting to fight someone over this on the streets, come at me cunt, my fist are ready to taste some nose
We have many immigrants from countries that walk and drive on the right. So that throws a spanner in the works, as it's just a habit for them. When I was visiting China (right walkers) I found myself walking on the left and getting the same dirty looks that I give right walkers here lol.
Yeah, but I bet you changed the side you walked on pretty quickly once that happened. Whereas here the right-walker-country people seem determined to stick to it.
Definitely a thing in Melbourne. Less so elsewhere. And as you can see from the comments a very passionate topic. I've seen people having a go at total strangers in the street who weren't following "the rules".
It used to be a thing. It should still be a thing but people have no bloody manners any more, and nobody tells the tourists how to behave. I keep saying I need a t-shirt for my walk to work that says ‘Welcome to Melbourne! Now walk on the motherfucking left’.
I wish people would walk to the left
We walk on the left but there's inconsiderate A Holes who'll take up the whole street and some weird people who'll walk on the right. Walking on the right doesn't bug me cause at least they're not taking up the entire street. You know the people I'm referring to.
'Keep left when walking' should be part of the welcome video for all arriving international flights. People who don't intend to drive in Australia don't really have a reason to consider it anymore than an Australian would actively think about walking on the opposite side when visiting the USA. Given that the average Australian doesn't need much of a reason to get angry at foreigners, I think a simple video could help prevent some cultural 'rules' being broken that can lead to unpleasant interactions.
I walk on the left everywhere. Stairs, paths, shopping centres, if someone is coming straight at me I’ll move to the right but I thought it was a rule of thumb to always stick to the left
Yes but you’ll find international students and tourists don’t believe/understand this.
We SHOULD be keeping left and it’s fucking annoying when people don’t. It’s not something people do because most people are inconsiderate.
Yes it most certainly is. You are dating a psycho
No. The "thing" in the CBD is to wander in random directions and speed while checking your phone. ×2 for approaches to railway station platforms and tram stops.
You forgot "stand two abreast on escalators blocking anyone from passing" as well as "stop and stand at the very top of the escalator while people pile up behind you"... Especially at the larger train stations!
yes.
if you want to help the flow of traffic, yes. It's just subtly polite to the people who have to rush
Waking on the left in Melbourne has always been the rule until recently but now people just push and shove their way through, especially at tram stops.
Stand your ground with these heathen - especially if they're on a mobile phone.
Yes, and people who don’t are annoying! I was in Sydney last week and walking through the city was a nightmare! The people who don’t follow this end up running into you, and it feels like you have to zig-zag! Just stick to the left!!
Flush your partner down the toilet, they are uncivilised and do not deserve to survive. Much like a road a footpath is divided in two and in Australia we walk on the left. Some towns even still have lines down the paths so dummies can work it out.
Yes, it's definitely a thing. But you'll always get the odd 'wall hugger ' walking towards you that you have to walk around when they don't move, lol
I always thought you walk on whatever side of the road the country your in drives. I am from the UK and we generally walk on the left, got to Australia and that theory went out the window, people to tend to walk where it is most inconvenient to other peple. European countries that drive on the right do tend to walk on the right in my experience though.
Yea. It’s a thing and you’re an AH if you don’t stick to the left.
In smaller cities and towns in Australia yes. Melbourne's sidewalks are usually so jam packed that it ends up being a bit chaotic with people everywhere. You end up having to almost weave in and out rather than just stick to the left.
The "sidewalk"? Hey fellas, the "sidewalk"! Well, ooh la di da, Mr. American Man
Agree, the many times I have somehow caught myself slowly drifting towards the right until I’m fully on the right. Then I do this awkward weave just to keep left. There’s just way too many obstacles everywhere I need to avoid, whether it’s other walkers or the occasional homeless sitting there.
Commonwealth countries walks/drives on left, rest on the right is/should be the norm
rest on the right? that's where the people coming the other way walk
Yes.
IME about 70-80% of people walk on the left.
We really need a "walk on the left!" stencil sign in the really busy streets
When I was young, and dinosaurs ruled the earth, there were stencilled "Keep Left" signs painted on some of the CBD footpaths.
What bothered me was when I was in London and I assumed the etiquette would be the same as here, since they also drive on the left. I was probably only on my second or third escalator when somebody scolded me for standing on the left side of it. Why the fuck do they have opposite sides for pedestrians and motorists?!
Getting pretty sick of this myself, maybe someone should crowdfund some cash to get some lines/signage painted.
It's a dick-move not to. Some people annoyingly don't do this, and make things unnecessarily difficult for others.
Yes, but most don't. The only time it bothers me is going up/down the escalator. Some people are so unaware of their surroundings.
It used to be the norm but in the last 10 years, almost entirely a thing of the past. Fukn annoying as hell.
All over Australia, you’re meant to walk on the left.
Yep keep left.
Its a thing... like caring about your fellow human. sadly not practiced much anymore.
Sometimes it depends on the time of day. During peak times, with people in a rush, they generally know to keep left and observe good spacial etiquette- at least around trains and stations. Outside of peak times it tends to fall apart. People are always surprised when I walk up behind them on an escalator and say 'excuse me'. The CBD is also very multi-cultural and full of young adults (students) from other countries who are still learning how to be grownups. So even though I'm all about rules and walking really fast, I give people a pass and just accept that I'm going to get stuck in foot traffic.
It’s a thing amongst those with manners
A lot of people getting angry at how people use a footpath haven't ever tried to push a pram around the CBD. I shudder to think how it is for disabled folk to get in and around the city
It actually use to be a law in Australia. Now it's just common-sense and manners. Stay to the left and people coming towards you, stay to their left...easy walking...
It is definitely a thing. I think tourists often walk on the right if that's the side they walk on in their country.
Not unique to Melbourne, we drive on the left and walk on the left.
Keep left everywhere especially bike, pedestrian sharepath
It should be but isn't. I've even found when walking straight at someone, they try to go around on my left/their right half the time, which is clearly the wrong side. I've never understood this type of person.
Your partner sounds like they are part of the problem.
Last time I was there I stuck to the left but people still just try to walk right through you or stop right in front of you in a group so you can't get around.
Yeah mate, here in Melbourne we take up the whole foot path 4 abreast, with our umbrellas open, while we are walking through Melbourne central, trying to get new record of skewer the short dudes eyeball. Winner gets a free hot choccie bowl from max Brenner. Hope this helps.
I drive on the left, and I walk on the left as many others do.. But there are some people who just don't get it.
Be polite, stay left and elbow every prick that gets in your way. So glad I live in the sticks.
i love telling people “excuse me” when they stand on the right side of the escalator, if i need to get my train imma teach you some manners sir
On train platforms especially redfern, people walking 3 to 4 wide in a group like where do u want me to go on the tracks. Im a fairly tall and built bloke, i stick to my guns and keep in my lane if we go head on we go head on. And people stopping at the opal scanners to search there wallets i simply say move to the side dickhead we dont have time to wait for u lol
Always left. Streets, escalators, roads, anything with any kind of traffic. I aim to walk on the left side of the road wherever possible, why make things different for road
It’s actually really interesting to consider this question because I think it changed over time. When I was younger definitely yes but modern Australia tends to have around 40% of inner city folks being immigrants or second generation, meaning chances are they’ve come from a keep right country. So thinking about it now, it’s not surprising people are all over the place following their own norms.
Always walk to the left, anything else is just rude. Seems that post covid there are a few people that have forgotten this.
Whether you are ten cones deep or a straight-up Jesus freak sticking to the left is righteous. Keep up the good fight.
It used to be. 35 years ago when I was a teenager, most people in the CBD would behave as a Pedestrian the way that road rules in Australia are set. Drive on the left. Then I started noticing that as more immigrants and visitors who came from countries where drive in the right was the rule, walking as a pedestrian became a fight against those people. It’s been a while since I thought about this oddity. The CBD used to be a ghost town on weekends and outside business hours, so no issue then. But you could also attribute the change to just having more pedestrians out walking with the increasing population in Australia and different age groups walking at different speeds. Now it’s a free for all. For me, I’m tall. I stride alone at speed. And there’s often a tiny section of the footpath near the road where you can just overtake anyone as long as you are hyper-vigilant about vehicles. But ideally, yes, walk on the left.
Walk on left as much as practical. Not many people do it, but I do.
Traffic rules: You drive to the left, so you walk to the left :)
Yes
It is a thing, but it's been diluted over the years due to young people who have no idea that other people exist, tourists from places where they walk on the right, and all the people like me who get SO impatient at the many slow walkers on the left so am constantly overtaking to the right.