Why are stairs used more than slopes?

Question

Stairs are harder to walk, and higher risk of injury than slopes (imagine falling from stairs versus falling from slope).

So why aren’t slopes used more commonly in buildings?

Even stairs-shaped escalators are more common than slope-shaped escalators.

**Edit:** By “slopes”, I mean “ramps”. Pardon my English.

In: 0

Answer 1

Try to find one of those [stairs that have a bicycle ramp](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/a5/f5/c5a5f5e809b8d18060df82cd8ebd9f94.jpg) so you can directly compare stairs vs. ramp of the same climbing angle.

Slopes are much harder to climb.

Stairs have a horizontal surface, so you don’t slip. On slopes, there would always be a possibility of slipping because you rely on friction to keep you up. It would get really dangerous wjem wet or icy. Also, due to stair surface being horizontal, your foot / ankle is always at a natural 90° angle as opposed to slopes.