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CylonRaider87 t1_ja56f62 wrote

I just don't understand why. From a mechanical/electrical engineering perspective, you're spending all this money to install something there. A device which ferries individuals up and down on a flat surface, and sure, you want to cut some corners to shave the price down. So you cut the mechanism to run the motor for a set time between levels...

But you're not losing the required safety mechanisms to determine the doors shouldn't open if it's in between levels, the ability the determine if it's on a level at all, etc, so you've chosen something seemingly minor to cut by having to hold the button for forever, thereby inconveniencing or straight up excluding someone who's mobility issues might extend beyond just their legs. So...why PATH contractors? It just seems like a jerk move with little gain you know?

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objectimpermanence t1_ja7wn3z wrote

I think the reason is that it's technically a platform lift and not a full-fledged elevator. Because the lift isn't fully enclosed (there's no ceiling), I believe there are safety regulations that require the user to continually press a button for safety reasons.

Supposedly, there was not enough space or clearance to build a proper elevator between the mezzanine and platform levels, so we ended up with this contraption.

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Wrkncacnter112 t1_ja88wwl wrote

This is my understanding as well. If your backpack, etc. gets caught on the wall, you can let go of the button to immediately stop the lift.

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rtadoyle t1_ja7gztn wrote

To be fair, they only had a weekend to build it, so they had to cut corners

/s

My theories are (and I have no qualifications for this)

  1. make it bad to deter able bodies folks from using it
  2. since it's literally underneath the street, there's no room above the elevator for extra mechanics (and maybe a similar concept for the bottom, where it'd be too deep? )

But yeah, it sucks.

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