Elevator system and method for operating same

An elevator system comprising:

• an elevator car arranged in an elevator shaft and having access to a plurality of pre-designated floors in a building;
• an elevator car driving mechanism;
• at least one user presence sensor arranged to sense the presence of a user at at least one of said plurality of pre-designated floors;
• and
• a computerized elevator controller, said computerized elevator controller being configured to:
• operate said elevator in a pre-programmed sequence to stop at said pre-designated floors in a predetermined order;
• upon receipt of an indication, from a first one of said at least one user presence sensor, that a user at a given floor wishes to ride the elevator, temporarily not performing part of said pre-programmed sequence in order to arrive at the given floor with minimum delay;
• thereafter, in the absence of another indication from a second one of said at least one user presence sensor, that a user wishes to ride the elevator, continuing to temporarily not perform part of said pre-programmed sequence in order to arrive at a pre-designated egress floor with minimum delay;
• and
• thereafter operating said elevator in said pre-programmed sequence including performing said part of said pre-programmed sequence to stop at pre-designated floors at pre-programmed times until receipt of an indication, from one of said at least one user presence sensor, that a user at a given floor wishes to ride the elevator.