Stand on the right, walk on the left is common courtesy for escalators, but one university in Utah has taken that to the next level.
A photo of a staircase in the gymnasium at Utah Valley University went viral. It shows the staircase divided into three lanes: walk, run and … text.
University officials said the bright neon green paint was a way to brighten up the space and get students attention.
The paint in the Student Life & Wellness Center, which serves as recreation and fitness center for the university south of Salt Lake City, has recieved national and even international attention.
Matt Bambrough, UVU's creative director, said the idea was more of a way to grab attention not really as a way to direct traffic flow.
Spokeswoman Melinda Colton with the university told KNPR's State of Nevada that even though it wasn't intended to direct the flow of foot traffic, it actually has.
"We did mean it just to be a design element but we are seeing that when students see it they are stopping a switching lanes," Colton said.
She doesn't believe that UVU has anymore of a texting problem than any other university, but she is happy that their experiment has people talking.
"If your stairway, our famous stairway, has done nothing else but get people to open a dialogue about this I think that's a very good thing," Colton said.
Melinda Colton, spokeswoman, Utah Valley University