Keep right: Utah university creates ‘texting lane’ for phone-focused walkers

One Utah university is giving students glued to their mobile phones a place to call their own: a designated lane for texting while walking. The neon green lanes painted on the stairs to the gym at Utah Valley University were intended as a lighthearted way to brighten up the space and get students’ attention, spokeswoman Melinda Colton said Thursday. And it worked. A picture of the lanes — which divide the stairs into sections for runners, walkers and texters — created widespread buzz on social media this month after it was posted online.

It’s kind of funny. You walk down the hallway and instead of saying hi, everyone is walking and texting.

Student Chelsea Meza, 22, who says the lanes touch on a cultural reality in an age of ubiquitous phones

Though the lanes are limited to the school’s recreation center, 22-year-old student Tasia Briggs wouldn’t mind seeing them catch on across campus. “There’s nothing worse than walking behind someone who’s texting, and you can’t get around them and go anywhere,” Briggs said. She added smartphone messaging — whether through texts, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram — is a big part of how her generation communicates, and it’s cool to see the college acknowledge it. Though the lanes weren’t designed to curb a texting problem on campus, about half of students who see the lanes really use them. The idea came from a group of students and staff who wanted to spice up a gray staircase in the new Student Life & Wellness Center.

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