Light Rail Capacity..present and future...

[ricco67]

I was doing a job at the medical center at about 3pm and I noticed there were quite a few people on the rail, it was a double rail and it was running close to capacity.

An hour later, I was sashaying towards the rail (don't ask) and I noticed the southern bound Dryden station was packed to capacity. That part didn't surprise me, it was the NORTH bound that surprised me. I had to push my way in and we STILL had more people coming on at the memorial station.

Once the other lines get up and running and more people start taking the rail, will it be able to handle the additional capacity or am I worrying a bit too much about this?

[musicman]

no need to worry. capacity is a function of the number of LRT cars. that can grow if needed.

[infinite_jim]

according to my prof.

"lightrail is a band-aid at this point"

[desirous]

Rail has incredibly high capacity, as capacity is a function of how often trains run as well as the length of trains. It's a matter of whether Metro is willing to purchase additional rolling stock to meet peak demand or not. In some Asian cities, for example, there are metro lines running at 2-3 minute intervals between boardings, with 8-car trains.

[sunsets]

3 pm is around the time of many hospital shift changes. It's not surprising you found yourself on a packed train.

I tried to get from Memorial Hermann to TMC Transit one day around 3:30, and I could've sworn I was on a subway in Japan. I was fully expecting some polite men wearing white gloves to appear to pack us in more tightly. Then we came to a complete stop between stations (mechanical problems) and it really became unbearable.

[musicman]

according to my prof.

"lightrail is a band-aid at this point"

LOL good summary though.

[mpbro]

Weird that it was packed going north. It's Rodeo time, and miserably busy in the afternoons for those few weeks. People are already drunk at 5 pm!

I rode the train for more than a year, and the straw that broke the camel's back was the rodeo. The only good thing about riding the train is being able to sit down, decompress, and read the paper. When it's standing room only, you're way better off driving. So that's what I started doing, and never stopped.

The stations are designed to accomodate triple trains, but I have never seen one.

Edited March 7, 2007 by mpbro

[WesternGulf]

The train is always packed going north at around 4 p.m., then it relieves itself at DT Transit Center and Main Street Square.

no need to worry. capacity is a function of the number of LRT cars. that can grow if needed.

The loading deck is only two tram cars long.

[musicman]

The loading deck is only two tram cars long.

that is true. the number of cars is effectively increased by increasing frequency.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

...then it relieves itself at DT Transit Center and Main Street Square.

Me and some of my homeless friends do the same thing...

[cottonmather0]

The stretch down Fannin through through TMC is always crowded, although I think what you saw was specifically rodeo traffic. A lot of people park downtown and ride the rail to Reliant and back throughout the day.

[Pumapayam]

no need to worry. capacity is a function of the number of LRT cars. that can grow if needed.

Answered like a true nerd!

[musicman]

Answered like a true nerd!

just remember it takes an EE to spell geek.

[Transit Nut]

Yes, the Rodeo is adding extra passengers to the normal volume. METRO only has 18 rail vehicles; they weren't supposed to have this many passengers until 2020 or so, and they had to pay for all the vehicles themselves, so that's probably why they didn't buy more. Even if they wanted to, they can't buy them off the shelf and have them delivered immediately. Also, they can't really borrow any from other cities because each different model has a different dynamic envelope, which is basically a cross section; some manufacturers make wider cars, some make taller cars, etc. Only San Diego has a similar vehicle right now; Charlotte and Portland will also have the same/similar vehicle, but they are being built right now. I think Houston has to wait at the end of the line, but they may be able to get Portland's option vehicles. In other words, it will be at least another year or two before Houston gets new vehicles.

Now, it takes 78 minutes for a round trip, from the time a train leaves Fannin South to the time it leaves Fannin South again. That's 32 min northbound, 32 min southbound, and about 7 min layover at each end. That means there needs to be 13 trains in service (13 trains x 6 min = 78). They usually try to keep one spare vehicle, so they run only 17. If there are 17 vehicles and 13 trains, only 4 out of the 13 can be 2-car trains; the other 9 are 1-car trains.

To make a long story short, yes, the light rail system can handle additional passenger volumes in the future. The problem is the existing capacity (number of vehicles).

[Pumapayam]

just remember it takes an EE to spell geek.

Well as am ME is take that to spell . . .merd?. . . hmmm.

[musicman]

To make a long story short, yes, the light rail system can handle additional passenger volumes in the future. The problem is the existing capacity (number of vehicles).

occasional inconvenience isn't a problem esp during big events like rodeo. i know the bus that goes by my house is sometimes full during AM rush but they don't add buses for something that happens occasionally. long term it may become a problem more frequently unless the frequency is increased to meet the increased long term demand.

Edited March 7, 2007 by musicman

[TheNiche]

I was doing a job at the medical center at about 3pm and I noticed there were quite a few people on the rail, it was a double rail and it was running close to capacity.

An hour later, I was sashaying towards the rail (don't ask) and I noticed the southern bound Dryden station was packed to capacity. That part didn't surprise me, it was the NORTH bound that surprised me. I had to push my way in and we STILL had more people coming on at the memorial station.

Once the other lines get up and running and more people start taking the rail, will it be able to handle the additional capacity or am I worrying a bit too much about this?

In the long term, as the fixed-guideway transit system is expanded and ridership increases, there will be a limit to ridership along Main Street. They are already limited to two cars per train, and if they're running too frequently, it will cause extreme disruptions in vehicular traffic along the line. It can be annoying at times as it is, but if you doubled the frequency (or more), it would cause gridlock.

Bear in mind that the LRT isn't going to stop the volume of vehicular traffic from growing, just slow the rate of growth by a small margin. So over time, not only do you have to deal with more vehicles and the strain that that naturally puts on the roadways, but you have to deal with them interacting with more frequent light rail vehicles. The Red Line, being at grade-level, will inevitably cripple traffic in the long term.

METRO has two options. 1) They can reconstruct the line, adding grade-seperations at major intersections and along high-traffic corridors, or alternatively convert parts of the line to a subway, or 2) they can reroute many of their busses, taking pressure off the line from people who need to make intermodal transfers (and ironically in some cases, saving passengers' time).