The UK city of Liverpool is to be the first in the world to have dedicated lanes for fast-walking pedestrians (pictured).
The "fast tracks" will be located in the middle of the Liverpool One shopping centre until the end of this week.
A majority of British pedestrians have told pollsters that they would like a fast lane installed on their local high street to reduce the time spent negotiating dawdling shoppers.
UK retailer Argos conducted a survey and found that 47% of shoppers found the slow pace of pedestrians to be their biggest problem on the high street.
Other bugbears included pavement-hogs, general overcrowding and the need to carry heavy bags.
Andy Brown, central operations director at Argos, said: "Shoppers have also told us that speed is critical when getting around their high street or town centre, so we want to test consumer reaction to a dedicated pavement fast lane. We hope it alleviates some of the biggest high street frustrations."
![](https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/x846.argos2_.pagespeed.ic_.2XSbIJifna.jpg)
It is unclear whether the lane will be continued after the pilot.
Founders of Skype have recently announced the launch of a company that aims to bring autonomous delivery robots to cities around the world in 2016.
Images via Argos