An elevator system, comprising: a hoistway that establishes a vertical pathway, the hoistway having an interior border established by a plurality of stationary boundaries that each have a height aligned with a vertical length of the hoistway, each of the stationary boundaries having a width generally perpendicular to the height; an elevator car within the hoistway; at least one vertically extending load bearing assembly including a plurality of elongated load bearing members, the load bearing assembly extending along a vertical path and facilitating movement or support of the elevator car; and at least one hoistway liner assembly situated in the hoistway, the hoistway liner assembly including a plurality of bumpers that each have an axis that is generally perpendicular to the vertical length of the hoistway, wherein the axes of at least two of the bumpers are non-parallel, wherein the bumpers respectively have an effective thickness that establishes a distance between an interior of the barrier established by the hoistway liner assembly and a respective one of the walls; the bumpers respectively have a bumper width that is generally perpendicular to the bumper thickness; the bumper width of at least one of the bumpers is approximately equal to a difference between the width of one of the walls and the thickness of at least one of the bumpers; the bumpers collectively establishing a protected area sufficient for preventing contact between the load bearing assembly and the interior border of the hoistway if there is lateral movement of any of the load bearing members relative to the vertical path along at least two generally perpendicular directions; and characterized in that: the hoistway liner assembly includes a plurality of mounting brackets (54; 82) that support the bumpers in respectively selected vertical locations; the effective thickness is based on a dimension of the mounting brackets (54; 82) and a material thickness of the bumpers; and wherein the at least one of the bumpers (52a,52b) is situated vertically above the at least one other of the bumpers (52a,52b) to accomplish an overlap among the bumpers (52a, 52b). a hoistway that establishes a vertical pathway, the hoistway having an interior border established by a plurality of stationary boundaries that each have a height aligned with a vertical length of the hoistway, each of the stationary boundaries having a width generally perpendicular to the height; an elevator car within the hoistway; at least one vertically extending load bearing assembly including a plurality of elongated load bearing members, the load bearing assembly extending along a vertical path and facilitating movement or support of the elevator car; and at least one hoistway liner assembly situated in the hoistway, the hoistway liner assembly including a plurality of bumpers that each have an axis that is generally perpendicular to the vertical length of the hoistway, wherein the axes of at least two of the bumpers are non-parallel, wherein the bumpers respectively have an effective thickness that establishes a distance between an interior of the barrier established by the hoistway liner assembly and a respective one of the walls; the bumpers respectively have a bumper width that is generally perpendicular to the bumper thickness; the bumper width of at least one of the bumpers is approximately equal to a difference between the width of one of the walls and the thickness of at least one of the bumpers; the bumpers collectively establishing a protected area sufficient for preventing contact between the load bearing assembly and the interior border of the hoistway if there is lateral movement of any of the load bearing members relative to the vertical path along at least two generally perpendicular directions; and characterized in that: the hoistway liner assembly includes a plurality of mounting brackets (54; 82) that support the bumpers in respectively selected vertical locations; the effective thickness is based on a dimension of the mounting brackets (54; 82) and a material thickness of the bumpers; and wherein the at least one of the bumpers (52a,52b) is situated vertically above the at least one other of the bumpers (52a,52b) to accomplish an overlap among the bumpers (52a, 52b).