Feel helpless with a leg fracture but no elevator in your building? Stairclimbers are here to meet your pressing needs.

These gadgets are not only useful for elderly care but also can assist people with mobility difficulties in going upstairs and downstairs. An operator and a safety officer are needed when a stairclimber is in use. The operator uses the machine to transport the passenger up and down the stairs, while the safety officer provides support in front of the passenger. It takes about 90 seconds to go up or down one flight of stairs with the help of the stairclimber. The facility can also adapt to fit narrow stairways in many older residential communities in Hangzhou, with safety ensured by two auxiliary wheels.

Hangzhou has launched a pilot service of stairclimbers for more than a year, with service costs varying between districts, roughly about 80-150 yuan.