AbstractNowadays urban development tends to high buildings, maximising the utility of limited space. In an effort to maintain comfort plenty of escalators connect levels in buildings. Of course there is much theoretical information about capacity of escalators, but do these model reality well? To figure out whether the assumed capacities specified in guidelines are reachable or not, we investigate the performance of escalators at railway stations and shopping centers in several field studies. The specific angle of slope amounts to 30, the speed to 0.5 m/s.