If you’ve ever stood on a moving walkway in an airport terminal, a shopping mall, or a busy transit hub, you’ve probably taken its smooth, reliable operation for granted. As someone who’s spent the last 12 years as a moving walkway supplier, I can’t tell you how many times customers ask me: Are these systems just built to work, or do they have strict rules and standards guiding their design, installation, and ongoing safety? The short answer is yes, they absolutely are. But the full story is a lot more nuanced than you might think—and those standards are what separate a high-performing, low-maintenance walkway from one that poses unnecessary risks. Moving Walkway
Let me start by setting the context for how these standards came to be. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, moving walkways first became a staple in large transit hubs, but early models were far from perfect. I’ve seen old photos from our company’s early archives: walkways with uneven floor surfaces, handrails that moved at slightly different speeds than the tread, and no clear guidelines for how much weight a single unit could support. There were even scattered reports of people, especially children in strollers, getting their feet or clothing caught in gaps between the walkway and the surrounding platform. These incidents spurred industry groups and government regulators to collaborate on creating formal rules to prevent harm.
Today, two sets of standards dominate the global conversation for moving walkways: one from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and another from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For our company, which supplies moving walkways to clients across North America, ANSI’s A17.1 standard is non-negotiable. This document, often called the Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, includes dedicated sections for moving walkways that cover everything from load capacity to emergency stop functionality. For example, ANSI A17.1 requires that the gap between the walkway’s tread and the adjacent floor never exceeds 10 millimeters on straight sections and 15 millimeters on curved sections—this small detail is designed to stop shoes, wheelchairs, and luggage from slipping into the gap. It also mandates that every walkway has an emergency stop button clearly visible at both ends, positioned 900 to 1200 millimeters above the walkway surface so it’s accessible to both children and adults.
Beyond ANSI, ISO 14798 is the global gold standard for moving walkway design and testing. This standard applies to suppliers like us, covering everything from material strength to noise levels. I remember when our engineering team had to rework a prototype outdoor walkway a few years ago to meet ISO 14798’s weather resistance requirements. The original model used a standard rubber tread that cracked when exposed to repeated freezing and thawing in a Canadian airport. Our team had to switch to a compound reinforced with recycled tire rubber, which not only passed ISO’s cold-weather flexibility tests but also reduced maintenance costs for our client by 30% over two years. That’s the thing about these standards: they don’t just check boxes—they make the walkways work better for everyone, from the people using them to the operators maintaining them.
But it’s not just design and testing standards that matter. Installation and maintenance are just as tightly regulated. In the U.S., moving walkways fall under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets rules for how walkways are installed to protect workers and end users. For example, OSHA requires that all walkway installations include guardrails on both sides if the walkway is elevated more than 300 millimeters above the ground— a rule we follow on all our outdoor mall walkways, which can run 2 meters above the sidewalk to accommodate vehicle traffic below. In Europe, the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) sets similar installation requirements, with additional mandates for regular inspections every 12 months by a certified technician. Our company’s field service team is trained to comply with both sets of rules, which means every walkway we install is ready to pass inspection on the first try.
I often get asked by clients: do these standards ever change? The answer is yes, and it’s usually in response to new risks or emerging use cases. For example, as more people use electric scooters and wheelchairs on moving walkways, ANSI and ISO updated their standards in 2021 to include specific load capacity calculations for mobility devices. Before that, our load guidelines were based on pedestrian foot traffic, which was too low for clients that wanted to accommodate large numbers of e-scooters in urban transit hubs. Working with these updates has been a key part of our business—we don’t just sell walkways; we collaborate with standards bodies to make sure our products meet real-world needs.
Of course, no standard is perfect. I’ve heard clients complain that some regulations are too rigid, especially when it comes to custom installations. For example, a museum might want a curved moving walkway that’s wider than standard to accommodate large art installations, but ISO’s 14798 has specific width limits for curved sections. Our solution has always been to work with the standards—rather than against them—to create modifications that meet both the client’s needs and regulatory requirements. Last year, we designed a custom curved walkway for a science museum that included a transparent handrail system (for aesthetic purposes) while still meeting ANSI’s strength requirements. We ran 10,000 load tests on the prototype to ensure it could support the weight of groups of kids touring the exhibit, and it passed every single one. That’s how standards should work: as a foundation, not a ceiling.
Another common misconception I encounter is that standards only apply to new walkways. That’s not true—regular maintenance and retrofits are also regulated. In most U.S. states, moving walkways must be inspected every 18 months, and any worn parts (like treads or handrail belts) must be replaced to meet current standards. A few years ago, a client in a Florida airport reached out to us because their 15-year-old walkway’s handrail was moving at 5% faster than the tread, which violated ANSI A17.1’s speed matching requirement. We were able to retrofit the handrail drive system for a fraction of the cost of a new walkway, which not only brought it into compliance but also reduced the number of minor trip incidents on that walkway by 40% in the year after the retrofit. That’s a perfect example of how standards keep existing equipment safe, not just new builds.
As someone who’s been in this industry for decades, I’ve seen how these standards have evolved from a loose set of guidelines to a comprehensive framework that protects everyone using a moving walkway. When I started in the 1990s, there were no formal standards for handrail strength, and we had to add extra bracing to every walkway to prevent the handrail from wobbling after a few years of use. Today, ANSI’s A17.1 specifies that handrails must withstand a 100-pound force applied anywhere along their length without shifting— a rule that eliminated that wobble issue almost entirely. That kind of progress is why I’m so passionate about working with these standards, not just following them.
Of course, standards aren’t the only factor in a good moving walkway. The quality of materials, the precision of installation, and the quality of ongoing maintenance all play a role. But if there were no standards to set a baseline, there would be no way to ensure that every walkway—whether in a small local mall or a major international airport—is safe. A supplier like us relies on these standards to know exactly what we need to build, so we don’t have to guess about whether a walkway will work as intended.
If you’re in the market for a new moving walkway, or you need to retrofit an existing one to meet current standards, I’d encourage you to work with a supplier who prioritizes compliance with these global standards. Our team has decades of experience designing, installing, and maintaining walkways that meet both ANSI and ISO requirements, and we can help you navigate any regulatory hurdles to get your project up and running safely and on time. Don’t leave the safety of your patrons or the reliability of your transit system to chance. Get in touch with us today to discuss your moving walkway needs.
Residential Elevators References
ANSI A17.1-2023, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators
ISO 14798:2021, Mechanical elevators, escalators and moving walks – Method for calculation of the probability of overloading and the risk of injury
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.28, Safety Requirements for Scaffolding and Walking-Working Surfaces
European Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Safety of Machinery
Ningbo Dongao Elevator Co., Ltd.
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