The maximum escalator ride time is the time it takes one step on the longest escalator in a structure to travel from one end to the other. This interval begins as soon as the step has fully emerged from the housing, and ends when it is again fully concealed in its housing. For purposes of this measurement it does not matter whether the escalator is traveling up or down.

If a shorter escalator happens to be slower and to take longer than the longest escalator, this is not regarded for purposes of this data. Ride time is measured solely according to the travel time of a single step, and does not take into account the possibility of shortening the ride by walking part of the way.

This is a measurement of the installation as it runs, not a property of the building. Lift speeds are reset, drives are slowed as they age, and a roof that opened in ten minutes when new can take longer later, so a duration belongs to the date it was taken on.

Where several installations exist, the value describes the one named in the field and not an average of them.