Destination Elevators - October 15, 2018

Right after writing Elevatorism last month, I was acquainted with destination elevators. I was even more surprised to find out that they have been in operation in skyscrapers in major metropolitan cities, such as New York and Chicago, for a decade already. I haven’t yet found one in Boston.

You won’t find any buttons inside these elevators. You have to know where you are going before you get in. You enter your floor number in the kiosk at the elevator bank and it will display which car you should take.

This means, if you thought you could make an excuse to avoid riding with someone else, you will have to suck it up. On the other hand, you can get in the elevator while remaining oblivious to your surroundings by taking refuge in your smart phone since no further interactions are required.

So, just when I thought elevators couldn’t get any smarter, they did. That’s not to say that destination elevators cannot be outsmarted. Pranksters can still enter a floor number countless times in an attempt to ride alone or make the elevator come quicker.

Overall, destination elevators, when used as intended, reduce elevator wait time and operate with greater energy efficiency.