A method of monitoring a direction of motion of a conveyance apparatus within a conveyance system including: detecting a first height at a first time; detecting a second height at a first selected time period prior to the first time; detecting a height change of a conveyance apparatus within the conveyance system in response to the first height and the second height; determining whether the height change is greater than a first selected height change; and determining that the conveyance apparatus is moving in an upward direction when the height change is greater than the first selected height change.