There's the Paternoster[1], which is essentially what you're talking about, but as it probably fairly obvious, they're pretty difficult to make both safe and ef

There's the Paternoster[1], which is essentially what you're talking about, but as it probably fairly obvious, they're pretty difficult to make both safe and efficient. I'm reminded of the 'Moving Platform'[2] idea proposed for high-speed trains fairly recently though, and I wonder if there's anything there that could be reused. What would a packet-switched elevator shaft look like? (Lots of small cars, which divert to individual 'station' queues for each floor, and latch onto a continuous moving belt at fixed intervals - shades of ATM) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster [2] http://www.designweek.co.uk/home/blog/moving-platforms/3027767.article http://www.designweek.co.uk/home/blog/moving-platforms/30277...