Covid-19 is a problem for elevators. Is the paternoster lift the solution?

An elevator is the perfect incubator for an airborne virus in many ways. So how can we safely shuttle people in these crowded, sealed-off boxes? It remains an unresolved question on the post-pandemic reopening checklist.

The range of DIY elevator solutions are unconvincing, even comical: dividing the floor with tape for social distancing, gluing hand sanitizers on handrails, asking people to face the walls, or using fobs and metal pins instead of fingers to press buttons. Salesforce’s Seoul office has a “Disneyland-style ticketing system,” limiting elevator rides to two to four occupants per trip, which results in a lot of energy waste and queuing.

What all of these solutions has in common is that they hinge on appealing to each passenger’s sense of caution—a system that’s inherently not foolproof.

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