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Calcimator

Elevator Wait Time Calculator

Average wait time from car count, floors, and demand.

Inputs

Results

Average wait time (s)

28.7

Interval (s)57.3
Round-trip time (s)229.3
Service grade (1-5)3
Avg. total journey (s)108.2
Probable stops7.8
Highest reversal floor7.8
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Number of Elevator Cars and Floors above lobby.
  2. Set Car Capacity (persons), Loading Factor (%), and Rated Speed (m/s).
  3. Input Floor-to-Floor Height (m) and Door Cycle Time (s).
  4. Review Average Interval (seconds) and Average Wait Time.
  5. Target intervals below 30 seconds for office buildings and below 60 seconds for residential.

How the result changes with Rated speed (m/s)

Rated speed (m/s)Average wait time (s)
1.6523.4
4.5244.2
7.9870.9
1194.1

What each input means

Number of elevator cars
Total elevator cars serving the zone.
Floors above lobby
Number of floors served above the main lobby.
Car capacity (persons)
Rated passenger capacity of each car.
Loading factor
Typical fraction of capacity used per trip (0.7-0.9).
Rated speed (m/s)
Elevator rated speed.
Floor-to-floor height (m)
Average floor-to-floor height.
Door cycle time (s)
Full door open + close cycle time.

What each result means

Average wait time (s)
Expected average wait time for a passenger at the lobby.
Interval (s)
Average time between successive car arrivals.
Round-trip time (s)
Time for one car to complete a full round trip.
Service grade (1-5)
Quality: 5=Excellent (<20s), 4=Good, 3=Acceptable, 2=Below avg, 1=Poor.
Avg. total journey (s)
Wait time plus average travel time to destination.
Probable stops
Expected number of stops per trip.
Highest reversal floor
Probable highest floor reached before returning.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Number of elevator cars = 4, Floors above lobby = 12, Car capacity (persons) = 16, Loading factor = 0.8 = 7 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Average wait time
    Average wait time = interval / 2
    28.7 = 28.7
  3. Calculate Interval
    Interval = RTT / numCars
    57.3 = 57.3
  4. Calculate Round-trip time
    Round-trip time = 2 * N * t_f + (S + 1) * t_s + 2 * P * t_p
    229.3 = 229.3

Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.

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