Elevator Wait Time Calculator

Work out elevator wait time instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Elevator Wait Time Calculator

Round trip time is travel up and down plus door time at the expected number of stops; the arrival interval divides that by the number of lifts and the average wait is half the interval. Door and boarding time dominates in low rise buildings, which is why adding a lift helps far more than making an existing one faster.

Formulas

Round trip

seconds = 2 x floors x travel time per floor + expected stops x door time

Average wait

wait = round trip / lifts / 2

Worked example

With the default values below, Elevator Wait Time Calculator returns Average wait for a lift of 23.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Floors servedminimum 2: 10
Number of liftsminimum 1: 2
Travel time per floorminimum 0.1 s: 3 s
Door and boarding time per stopminimum 0.1 s: 8 s

Results

Average wait for a lift: 23.00 s
Interval between lift arrivals: 46.00 s
Round trip time for one lift: 92.00 s
Expected stops per round trip: 4

Step by step

1Values used
2Round trip
3Average wait
4Average wait for a lift= 23.00 s
5Interval between lift arrivals= 46.00 s
6Round trip time for one lift= 92.00 s
7Expected stops per round trip= 4

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Elevator Wait Time figure worked out?

seconds = 2 x floors x travel time per floor + expected stops x door time. Round trip time is travel up and down plus door time at the expected number of stops; the arrival interval divides that by the number of lifts and the average wait is half the interval.

Why does this matter?

Door and boarding time dominates in low rise buildings, which is why adding a lift helps far more than making an existing one faster.

What do I need to enter?

Enter floors served, number of lifts, travel time per floor, door and boarding time per stop. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.