"Maglev"-elevator

Problem

Large skyscrapers need like 50 elevators (ref) to transport all the people inside the building. And they all need a separate elevator-shaft which means that they are quite spacey.

See also: http://www.newsweek.com/futuristic-cable-less-elevators-float-mid-air-and-move-horizontally-288631

My solution

"Maglev"-elevator (using a Linear_motor (large electromagnets on the sides of the elevator-shaft)).

No moving parts except for the elevator itself, which means that the carriage can move both up/down and sideways, which means that the elevator carriages can overtake other carriages, much like normal cars on the road.

To keep the carriage stable and upright and prevent them from running into each other one would need to rely on computers and sensors.

I would suggest a "four-lane" shaft where for example the in the outer-most lanes the carriages stops at respective floor and the center-most lanes is for overtaking other carriages.

Will a linear engine be strong enough (as no gearbox can be used)?

I don't know what forces you can get out of a linear engine. But one can check what forces you get out of normal engines at the radius of the rotor. So I searched the internet and found this 0.1 m rotor-radius-engine (link) with 450 Nm torque which would correspond to 4500 N.

One can also compare to the maglev trains.

Will the magnetic flow inside the carriage be unhealthy (or erase you credit cards or whatever)?

I don't know but one can again compare to the maglev trains.