Yes, escalators going down can generate power for the local grid when there are people on them. Modern escalators do this. E.g. https://www.kebamerica.com/blog/

Yes, escalators going down can generate power for the local grid when there are people on them. Modern escalators do this. E.g. https://www.kebamerica.com/blog/vfd-regen-escalators/ https://www.kebamerica.com/blog/vfd-regen-escalators/ It doesn't particularly power the escalator going up, it just reduces the power consumption of the whole building. There was also the Levytator where instead of the stairs looping underneath at the end, they go around and form the opposite escalator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58272OirGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58272OirGU This means that people travelling down automatically help people travelling up because they are on the same mechanically linked stairs.