The idea of forcing people to take the stairs to fight obesity is currently a running experiment at the new San Francisco Federal Building. Results are mixed,

The idea of forcing people to take the stairs to fight obesity is currently a running experiment at the new San Francisco Federal Building. Results are mixed, see i.e. http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=5428 http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=5428 From the article: According to my source, architect Mayne has stated that federal office workers do not get enough exercise. To address this, he installed elevators in the building that only stop at every third floor. This requires employees to walk up or down one or two flights of metal stairs. Persons with physical disabilities who cannot use stairs can use a separate elevator that stops at every floor. The foreseeable result is that employees seeking to avoid stairs use the disabled access elevator, leaving this car crammed with people and making the ride to the top extremely slow.