It’s hard to imagine buildings without elevators. A standard elevator can move you and several others at about 100 to 200 feet per minute. However, there’s no “blast off” at the beginning of the ride, so you don’t move at that speed for the entire time; the elevator has to build up speed.
Still, 100 to 200 feet per minute definitely beats having to take the stairs. And in some buildings, engineers have mastered how to rocket passengers from point A to point B much faster.
Below are the three fastest elevators in the world:
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Sunshine 60 Building, Tokyo, Japan: Both buildings have elevators that move at 22 mph. However the buildings differ in height. Time from ground to roof at the Sunshine 60 is 24 seconds to travel 787 feet; for Burj Khalifa it takes one minute and 22 seconds to traverse 2,717 feet.
- Yokohama Landmark Tower, Yokohama, Japan: Each of the 79 elevators in this building travels 28 mph and can take passengers 971 feet from ground to roof in 24 seconds.
- Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan: Taipei 101 is 1,670 feet tall and the elevator runs at 37.7 mph, getting passengers from ground to roof in a lightning fast 30 seconds.