The Twin Towers were the first buildings in the world with an express elevator system. Much like the New York City subway, elevators made express stops at "skylobbies" on the 44th and 78th floors. Here passengers transferred to local elevators which brought them to their offices.

Double decker elevators, which had been used in skyscrapers such as 70 Pine St., were not feasible because of the design's insistence on dramatic 74 foot tall lobbies.

The express elevators travelled at a speed of 27 feet per second (18.4 miles per hour). Each held a maximum of 55 people and had a weight capacity of 10,000 pounds. Engineers estimated approximately 450,000 "passenger movements" per day.