CSULB escalators continue breaking down

During Cal State Long Beach’s first week of the fall 2017 semester, the University Student Union escalators experienced a surge in the number of breakdowns that occurred during its operational hours.

This has been an ongoing issue for the university, where students and faculty alike notice that throughout the day, the escalators cease to run, sometimes for moments, other times for hours on end. Despite this, Associated Students, Inc. have no plans to remove or replace these escalators in the very near future due to the high expenses that come with doing so. Representatives from ASI are looking into replacement cost estimates, but the price is expected to be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When down, the escalators can sometimes be a burden to students trying to get to class. Madisyn Peterson, a second year student says, “[The escalators] have gotten worse, to be honest with you. I use them to get to class and they would stop randomly throughout the day.”

According to James Ahumada, senior communications manager, a faulty safety trigger is the culprit. When people jump on the escalator too hard or bring their coasting devices, such as skateboards and scooters, to a halt too close to the escalator stairs, they run the risk of prompting the escalators to stop unnecessarily.

“The escalator thinks that the last step is crashing into it, so as a safety precaution, it will stop,” Ahumada explained.

In recent years, the escalators have been known to stop more frequently. This can be attributed to age. According to Ahumada, the escalators were installed between 1996-1997 after Cal State Long Beach students held a referendum to upgrade the University Student Union. Now, years later, the wear and tear of the escalators have prohibited them from working at their best. Just recently, a dented bolt was pulled out from the escalators that made them more prone to stop.

Mitsubishi Electric in Cypress holds the contract to repair the escalators, which means that they service any large repairs and maintain the escalators. According to the contract between CSULB and Mitsubishi Electric, ASI spends $2150 a month on escalator related costs, with a couple of overcharges on things like cleanings and overtime labor costs (i.e. service workers coming in after hours) that added up to $19,275. Mitsubishi declined to comment for this story.

Ahumada says the facilities team receives an average 2-3 service requests a month just on the escalators. They have the ability to fix smaller repairs. However, larger repairs require the company to come to the campus.

Until ASI decides to replace them, all students can do is treat the escalators more gently, in hopes of minimizing the amount of times they shut down. Ahumada says, “If it’s not maintained, if it’s not replaced, then the only other thing we really have is to educate people to be more safe around, to be more respectful of those machines, because they are sensitive and old.”