An alert tipster brings us news that WMATA officials are poised to consider whether some of the Metro systems shorter escalators should be converted into stairs. The proposal on the table would call for the decommissioning of 23 escalators in order to save approximately $1.2 million in maintenance costs. According to WTOP, none of the escalators in question exceed thirty feet in height and are all units that provide redundant service at their individual stations. Affected stations are said to include Vienna, L’Enfant Plaza, Farragut North and Federal Triangle.

Even without the attendant potential savings, the move certainly has some merit, if only because there will be twenty-three fewer things that could potentially break down. In a system that often seems stretched pretty thin where escalator maintenance is concerned, even the slight decrease proposed could help to consolidate resources further and help keep the system’s most important units healthier. WMATA currently has close to six hundred escalators running, and they state that there are almost always forty to forty-five units that are out of service, which, to veteran users of the subway, probably seems like a lowball estimate.

We’ll keep you apprised of any developments.

Photo by Flickr user Grundlepuck