A 20O>WORO OR LESS FACTUAL SUMMARY OF MOST SIONinCANT INFORMATION. IF DOCUMENT INCLUDES A SiQNinCANT BIBUOQRAPHY OR LITERATURE SURVEY, MENTION IT HERE.) Throughout most of the world, warning signs next to elevators indicate they should not be used in fire situations, and today’s elevators have not been designed for fire evacuation and should not be used for fire evacuation. However, the idea of using elevators to speed up fire evacuation and to evacuate persons with disabilities has gained considerable attration. The potratial of elevator evacuation is so significant that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has sponsored a research project at NIST to develop techniques for occupant use of elevators during buildipg evacuations. This paper is the final report of that project, and it addresses fundamental system considerations, engineering design considerations, design analysis, and human b^iavior. This paper shows that use of elevators in addition to stairs during a fire emergency allows occupants and firefighters an additional ^rstem of vertical transportation. Even though the focus of this paper is fire evacuation, much of the information is also applicable to evacuation fi>r other emergmcies. The results of a previous project to develop smoke control of elevator ^tems are presented in App^dix A. An interactive computer program, ELVAC, was written specifically for the analyses of this paper.. 12.