Saturday, October 02, 2004

Analysis of TTC Streetcars - Part I



Chart comparing transit performance

With the TTC whining so much about $$$ (specifically the lack thereof) why are they running streetcars? The TTC claims better capacity - but their own figures (from a report prepared for the TTC by the IBI Consulting group in 2003) show otherwise.

TTC Streetcar achieved capacity in boarding's per hour is 81 / hour - compared to 76 / hour for the TTC's buses. However, the streetcar figure includes the larger streetcars (ALRVs) that the TTC operates predominately on Queen St.

If we adjust the 81 boardings / hour for the total fleet of streetcars - based on the numbers of each in the fleet, and the relative planning capacitys used by the TTC:

CLRVs:

Number in fleet: 196
Planning Capacity: 75
Weighted number of units: 174.36
Weighted achieved capacity: 73.7 Boardings / hour

ALRVs:

Number in fleet: 52
Planning Capacity: 110
Weighted number of units: 69.37
Weighted achieved capacity: 108.1 Boardings / hour

In others words, on a prorated basis at least, the TTC achieves better capacity from its standard 40 ft buses (76 / hour) - that with the larger, more expensive standard streetcar.

Next installment - Where does the capacity go?


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