Elevators and escalators have had a great impact on modern architecture and design. Through the innovation of these two travel systems, we’re able to move through multiple levels quickly regardless of weight, changing the way we travel through the buildings that we encounter every day. Travelling up and down an elevator or escalator may be part of your everyday routine, but here are 10 interesting facts about elevators and escalators that we think will make change the way you think of these machines. 

1. 1. When the modern elevator was first unveiled in the 1920’s, many people were still leery and nervous about traveling up and down floors in this new contraption.  As such, hotels, office buildings, and elevator makers decided to play calming music to make passengers feel more at ease in their journey. Today, while most passengers don’t think twice about traveling between floors in a little box, cheesy elevator music can still sometimes be heard.

1. 1. Escalators are fairly simple but brilliant machines and are essentially long conveyor belts that pull a set of stairs making a moving staircase. One of the first uses of escalators being used in history was by the Ancient Egyptians in building the Great Pyramids of Giza, where stone cubes were carried on tree trunks and rolled towards the build site using a long belt pulled by workers.

1. 1. With 325 million passengers riding on elevators each day around the world, every three days, all the elevators combined together carry the equivalent of Earth’s entire population.

1. 1. Since the number is considered extremely unlucky in a lot of countries, including the United States, a lot of buildings opt to remove the 13th floor from their floor plans.  Otis Elevators Company estimates that approximately 85% of buildings with their elevators do not have a 13 button.

1. 1. The close button in an elevator is actually a “placebo” button, made to give passengers the illusion of control in their elevator journey. Since the 1990’s elevator manufacturers have removed the close function on most elevators since they close automatically.

1. 1. The word “escalator” was originally trademarked by Otis Elevators Company, and as a result, some of the earlier American manufacturers of escalators had to come up with some more creative names for their escalators. Some of them were: Motor Stairs, Moving Stairs and Electric Stairway.

1. 1. The world’s longest outdoor escalator is the Central-Mid-Levels escalator in Hong Kong which spans 2,600 feet and helps many commuters each day get to work between Central and Mid-levels. It only goes one direction and switches direction depending on rush hour.  Do you know what the world’s tallest outdoor elevator is? Check out our blog on the most impressive elevators in the world to find out!

1. 1. By 2021, the maintenance and modernization budget that will be spent on elevators and moving stairways will be $125 billion.

1. 1. Despite fears of getting stuck or free-falling in an elevator, riding in an elevator is actually safer than riding in a car. On average 26 people a year die in an elevator-related accident (mainly elevator technicians and not passengers) while 26 people die per hour in car-related accidents.

1. 1. There has been many songs and books written about elevators! Popular songs include Elevator by Flo Rida (2008), Elevator Eyes by The Temptations (2000) and well-known books include the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl (1972).

These were some of our favorite elevator and escalator facts, which ones caught you by surprise?

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