Commercial elevators have become a staple of modern life in the vast majority of developed nations, but particularly in the United States. If you’ve ever been to a shopping mall, an apartment building, or a skyscraper, you have almost certainly been in an elevator. Commercial elevators are also commonly found in office buildings as well as in any modern and expansive hospital or medical center. In fact, commercial elevators have become so widespread that a multi story building without an elevator is likely to be considered an oddity.
Aside from commercial elevators, of which there are hundred of thousands of (with more than seven hundred thousand – nearly nine hundred thousand – total elevators in the United States alone), residential elevators are also popular. Residential elevators are likely to be found in apartment and condo buildings, as well as facilities like retirement communities and assisted living homes. And the number of total residential elevators is on the rise, with as many as ten thousand being built each and every year in the United States alone.
But though residential lifts and commercial elevators alike service a total of twenty thousand people every single year, making nearly twenty billion passenger trips in total in this same span of time and carrying billions of people – the equivalent of the entire population of the world – in just longer than every week, many people still fear them. Though elevator fear is often irrational, it is far from uncommon. People fear getting stuck in an elevator, losing air in an elevator, and plummeting in a elevator with snapped cables. For people who suffer from claustrophobia, riding in residential or commercial elevators can prove to be a terrifying experience. Fortunately, these fears are unfounded.
As any elevator safety company can tell you, elevator maintenance is performed regularly on the vast majority of residential and commercial elevators all throughout the United States. And if elevator repair is ever needed, it is conducted rapidly and the elevator is shut down until it is in fully functioning order again, making it impossible for the elevator to be used and to bring potential harm until it is functioning to its full capacity. In fact, it is estimated that the properly functioning elevator, residential and commercial elevators alike, is as much as twenty times safer than the standard escalator, a mobility device also commonly found in places such as shopping centers. Even though there are a much greater number of elevators than there are escalators, particularly in the United States, the incidence of accidents that occur on escalators are still significantly higher – and the accidents that happen are often more severe.
Commercial elevator installation is also a great way to make a building more accessible to those that struggle with stairs. From those with mobility challenges like those who use mobility aids like walkers, wheel chairs, and canes, to the very young and the very old, commercial elevators often provide a much needed accessibility to a building. Commercial and residential elevators alike also simply provide convenience to those who use them. Elevators are particularly necessary in residential locations such as high rise apartment buildings. Moving in and out is made considerably and insurmountably easier thanks to the easy access to elevators, and provides ease with the transport of any objects – even groceries. Residential elevators, much like commercial elevators, often provide accessibility to those that cannot navigate the stairs – and even those who simply do not want to for whatever reason.
When it comes down to it, elevators are something to be celebrated instead of feared. Elevators are an important part of our lives, and many of us take our access to elevators for granted.