Large numbers of both students and faculty alike amass every day in elevators to attend classes, meetings and work. There are a total of 144 elevators on campus that relieve foot traffic on campus and receive constant use on a daily basis.

But these same elevators are also known to get crowded directly before and after classes.

“The elevators are fine in some of the buildings — they can be really slow, especially in the taller buildings such as in Dabney and Cox,” Siddhi Gupta, a junior in biological sciences, said. “So if they could install some more fast and efficient elevators in buildings then that would be better.”

Overcrowding in elevators is also a problem for Keith Taylor, a senior in political science, who said students often have to take an alternative route.

“Overcrowding elevators on campus happens a lot in some of the residence halls, like in the Tri-Towers,” Taylor said. “As far as the library, it only gets crowded in the middle. There are ways to get around it, take the stairs, or go a different way.”

Garden Freeman, superintendent of maintenance, oversees all elevators on campus and said he attempts at ensure that students manage to reach their destinations in an expedient and safe manner.

“Elevators can make a big difference,” Freeman said. “Any building that has more than one story has an elevator in it or some form of activated man lift or chair lift — strictly concerning areas of business and classes.”

Freeman said maintaining both operational and safe elevators on campus are top priority; overcrowding may compromise the safety of those who ride them.

“One of the most paramount issues that we always stress, especially with elevators where it moves people, is safety,” Freeman said. “[Elevators] all have safety guidelines that are to be met — it’s one of the safest forms of transportation.”

According to Freeman, he and his maintenance staff are in charge of maintaining elevators to very specific degrees. He said he delegates work to his team of professionals to continually ensure that elevators are meeting state mandates.

Vance Blanton, a senior in civil engineering, said there are a sufficient number of elevators on campus even though some may be slower or less reliable than others.

“You just understand where the slower elevators are; if you need the elevator, you’ll just wait for one,” Blanton said. “Witherspoon [Student Center] has a ridiculously slow elevator. Mann Hall has a slow elevator, but there are not ever very many people waiting in line.”

According to Freeman, every new building on campus has at least one built-in elevator.

“We’ve got some old elevators on campus. We have a lot of new stuff — there is a lot of new renovation on campus,” Freeman said. “We are also trying to update our elevators all of the time. Now we actually have infrared detectors; we maintain elevators until renovation comes.”