American Invented Elevators and Now We Suck at Building Them

As revolutionary inventions go, the elevator doesn't seem to get its due.

Elevators aren't as iconic as the automobile or as ostentatious as the airplane. They are simple, generally unfussy devices seemingly meant to be ignored. If you live in an apartment building or work in an office, you might take an elevator several times each day without a second thought.

But add up all those trips, and you start to get a sense of how important the elevator is. An estimated 1 billion people set foot in an elevator every single day. In the U.S., elevators travel more than 2.5 billion miles each year—more than all the miles traveled by train and airplane, combined. That's enough to go back and forth to the Sun more than 27 times.

Elevators are essential technology. They have changed where people live and how we work. They make it easier for anyone with a wheelchair or a stroller to get around. Without elevators, skyscrapers would be worthless, and penthouse apartments would not be desirable. The modern city would be very different without the elevator.

So, why don't we build as many of them anymore?

Yes, America still has a ton of elevators. More than 1 million of them, in fact. Compared to other countries, however, we are falling behind.