Riders per Hour

[CorkscrewFoley]

I have something that I still haven't figured out after all these years, and that is how do you figure out how many riders per hour is done? I apologise if this was asked before.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Tim.

[larrygator]

Isn't that done by turnstile counts? Hence to use of turnstiles on most rides at major parks. I know I frequently see people with clipboards writing down numbers.

Edited February 4, 2011 by larrygator

[Noxegon]

Easiest way for the layman is to time the interval between trains.

 

Lets say there's one train per minute - that's sixty per hour. Each train seats thirty-two, so that's 1920 per hour.

[SharkTums]

Then to make it more complicated there's "Theoretical Riders Per Hour" and "Actual Riders Per Hour". For example Vekoma claims something insane for the Deja Vu's, like 980 an hour, when in reality I don't think there's a park that has one that can get more than 400 an hour.

[Sunfire]

^Yeah, at CGA on Invertigo, we would normally get about 350-450 per hour (at least when it wasn't broken down ).

[DJeXeL]

If it takes 1 minute to load/unload and dispatch a 32 passenger train into a 3 minute cycle this is how you would get your theoretical capacity.

 

1 minute Load/Unload time + 3 minute cycle time (station to station) = 4 minutes

Divide 4 minutes into 60 minutes (Hour) = 15 dispatches per hour.

Multiply 15 x how many passengers in vehicle which in this case we will say is 32 passengers.

15 x 32 = 480 passengers per hour (PPH)

 

So our theoretical for this example would be 480 passengers per hour. Multiply this theoretical by how many trains/vehicles attraction can operate at a time. If there was 2 trains on this attraction we would multiply 480 x 2 which would then take our theoretical up to 960 PPH.

 

Then to make it more complicated there's "Theoretical Riders Per Hour" and "Actual Riders Per Hour". For example Vekoma claims something insane for the Deja Vu's, like 980 an hour, when in reality I don't think there's a park that has one that can get more than 400 an hour.

 

Like Alyssa says, there's a difference between "Theoretical" and "Actual." "Theoretical" is a perfect world with full trains and no delay when loading/unloading train. Manufacturer's theoretical is just used as a basic guideline on the attractions capability. "Actual" capacity is the real world

[SharkTums]

^Or Theoretical = Knoebels, Actual = Six Flags

[cfc]

Maybe Theoretical = Roller Coaster Tycoon, Actual = Real World?

[DJeXeL]

^^Haha yep! Glad you brought up the Deja Vu capacity numbers because when I read on Vekoma's site about the 980 PPH capacity of the Giant Inverted Boomerangs I was thinking to my self........they do realize people have to get on and off the train and have restraints checked don't they??

[Skycoastin Steve]

Then to make it more complicated there's "Theoretical Riders Per Hour" and "Actual Riders Per Hour". For example Vekoma claims something insane for the Deja Vu's, like 980 an hour, when in reality I don't think there's a park that has one that can get more than 400 an hour.

The theoretical riders per hour for Nighthawk is 1000. In all the time I operated it, I think we got over 500 a handful of times, and we had a damn good crew. I can't even fathom any situation when that ride could even sniff 1000 riders in an hour.

 

On the other hand, Intimidator actually exceeded its theoretical 1600 riders per hour on more than one occasion this year (also a damn good crew). I think their best was something like 1690.

[jynx242]

^ I've seen the Intimidator crew just completely kick a$$. As far as FireBorg, well - those seats and the restraints...You guys were doing good at 500 pph. That hooker assimilated my phone on the Deep South Tour.

[DJeXeL]

^^The InTRimidator crew was awesome when I went back in June! They were pumping those trains out. Now if only the ride was as good as the crew.....

Nighthawk we didn't even bother with seeing how they were dispatching trains every 5-7 minutes and the queue was out of the entrance.

Silver Bullet was one of my favorite rides to operate...especially during Haunt cause we would consistently get 35/36 trains an hour which is just under the rides theoretical of 1250 PPH however with Cedar Fair's loose article policy that's high!

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^500 was basically the upper limit, and that was usually 23-25 cycles. As far as the ride assimilating phones, I can't even describe the number of phones/wallets/keys/whatever that I found while working there. So you weren't the only one!

[rcdude]

Warning! Math Heavy Post!

 

Riders per hour is relatively easy to calculate given a few simple formulas and a calculater. Here are the ones I use.

 

Pph=Ppt X To X Cph

 

Where

 

Pph=People Per Hour

Ppt=People Per Train

To=Trains Operating

Cph=Cycles Per Hour

 

In addition, the following equation is used to calcuate dispatches per hour.

 

Cph=3600/(Lt+Rt)

 

Where

 

Lt=Load Time

Rt=Ride Time

 

When using this formula, the time must be measured in seconds (60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 60 X 60=3600 seconds per hour). Also, in one cycle, each operating train will dispatch once. To convert this number to dispatches per hour, just multipy by the number of operating trains.

 

On most rides, load time is not something that can be easily looked up. Therefore, I use one final formula to estimate the load time.

 

Lt=1.5S+Lof if train uses simple restraints (only a lap bar, only a shoulder harness, no additional belts, etc...)

Lt=2.25S+Lof if train uses complex restraints (any restraint with an additional belt or a combination of simple restraints)

 

Where

 

S=Seats per train

Laf=Loose Article Factor. If no loose articles are allowed in the station, Laf=0. If loose articles are allowed, Laf=0.35Ppt.

 

Using all of these three equations, you can usually get a pretty good idea for the capacity of a ride. For theoretical, plug in information found online. For actual capacity, you can take data at the park. Keep in mind that all of these, especially the load time estimator, are all estimations, but I've found them to be fairly accurate. The load time estimator has been within about 15% everywhere I've tested it (time load cycle on cell phone and compare to calculated value). However, for naturally slow loading rides (such as Stand-Up or Flying coasters) it will give a significantly low estimate.

 

That's about all I've got.

[Fire2box]

I'm thinking that every park should have a single rider line for thewre coasters. How many times have people watched coasters in line and spot like 3-9 empty seats? On Roar at SFDK I stood in line for nearly a hour and rode by myself on the very front since my dad didn't want to ride. Medusa (Also SFDK) is okay at least since it's a high capacity coaster and had the best crew for the 2010 season IMHO.

 

But rides like kong and roar where there's a max of 24 seat's with lines longer then 200+, it's horrible for single riders. "Oh look a empty seat. I could actually be riding right now."

[signaltwo]

The more accurate way to do it would probably be to do use on of the formulas above, but the "guesstimated" way it is done at rides is by using the turnstile. Either you take the number off the turnstile itself, or take the number off the turnstile counter in the rides operator booth.

 

Assuming the counter has been reset that is, I know we lost our counter key for a few days so at one point we started the day with a number of 15,000 or so. Thank whoever invented calculators.

 

Anyway, for hour 1 you would put down whatever is on the counter. That's how many people have come through the turnstile. For example you have 800 guests come through during hour 1. During hour 2 you have another 900 guests come through. The counter however will only display 1700. All you would do is simply subtract the first number by the total. For hour 3 you would add the first two hours together, and subtract the total by the first two hours. There is your total for hour three right there. You add each previous hour together, subtract it from the total being displayed on the counter and you'll have your hourly total.

 

After getting your turnstile hourly total, you would also add non-turnstile guests to the number. Those guests who board the ride using an exit pass or staying on with a certain, platinum, ridiculous, thingy. Usually that number stays in the 20-30 range for my ride.

 

I'm thinking that every park should have a single rider line for thewre coasters. How many times have people watched coasters in line and spot like 3-9 empty seats? On Roar at SFDK I stood in line for nearly a hour and rode by myself on the very front since my dad didn't want to ride. Medusa (Also SFDK) is okay at least since it's a high capacity coaster and had the best crew for the 2010 season IMHO.

 

But rides like kong and roar where there's a max of 24 seat's with lines longer then 200+, it's horrible for single riders. "Oh look a empty seat. I could actually be riding right now."

 

Single riders lines are generally the type of thing that looks better on paper than in reality. If done correctly it can be wonderful, if not however it can be a nightmare. First off, you'd need assigned seating like Disney does. You'd have the seat filled before the train even starts loading because the single rider would be waiting with the standby line rider at the airgate. Rock N Roller coaster is pretty good at this (not saying single rider is quick, they just fill empty seats well when available).

 

At parks that allow riders to choose their own rows you wouldn't be able to fill those empty seats early, everyone would have to get on and only after the gates have been closed would you be able to start filling seats. The ride crew could be using this time to check the train but instead are still working on filling the empty seats, it would just add time to check the train and dispatch it. It's much faster on most rides to just "load and go". All the added time of reopening harnesses, opening gates, rechecking the train wouldn't be worth it. It'd be quicker for everyone to just wait for the next train to pull into the station.

Edited February 4, 2011 by signaltwo

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^Honestly, a single rider line makes an absolute minimal amount of difference in wait times. And more often than not, you need consistently long lines at an attraction to justify a single rider line. Then you need to staff an extra person to work the single rider line. And then you have to deal with the flood of complaints that result from the single rider line.

 

When you think about it, most groups that go to amusement parks go in even numbers, just for convenience's sake. Every so often, you'll get a group of three people which will open an extra seat up, but when you line up a ton of single riders in that line, the wait doesn't get any shorter. When I would go ride Intimidator by myself on my off time, I would stand in the regular line and typically ride twice before anyone in the single rider line would ride once.

[QueerRudie]

^Or Theoretical = Knoebels, Actual = Six Flags

 

This just made my -entire- week. It could be the best single statement about the craptacular efficiency of certain parks...

 

However, I do recall the ops at Demon at SFGam being some of the -fastest- moving people I've ever seen- keeping three trains loaded, dispatched and returned without stacking.

 

R.D.

[larrygator]

^^Honestly, a single rider line makes an absolute minimal amount of difference in wait times.

 

It might not make a significant difference in riders per hour but it makes a huge difference if you are the single rider!

[Skycoastin Steve]

^I mean it made a difference sometimes, but there were so many times when I would hear about the single rider line still being a 45 minute wait on Saturday nights. It definitely depends on the ride, but at least in my experiences, single rider lines haven't made more than a few minutes difference most times.

[signaltwo]

^Or Theoretical = Knoebels, Actual = Six Flags

 

This just made my -entire- week. It could be the best single statement about the craptacular efficiency of certain parks...

 

However, I do recall the ops at Demon at SFGam being some of the -fastest- moving people I've ever seen- keeping three trains loaded, dispatched and returned without stacking.

 

R.D.

 

In all fairness Arrow loopers are probably the easiest trains to load and check, no seat belts, nothing extra. That was one of the main reasons I liked working GASM at SFGadv. I'd hope they'd be getting plenty off roll-ins. Otherwise something is not right at that platform.

[larrygator]

True on some rides it doesn't necessarily help (i.e.:Blue Fire), but it cuts down wait time remarkable on Griffon and Revenge of the Mummy to name a couple. So you need to know which single riders lines are efficient.

[DJeXeL]

Single Rider line for The Mummy at Universal Studios Hollywood works really well. I always use it and my wait is never longer than a couple minutes regardless of actual queue length.

[Noxegon]

^^Haha yep! Glad you brought up the Deja Vu capacity numbers because when I read on Vekoma's site about the 980 PPH capacity of the Giant Inverted Boomerangs I was thinking to my self........they do realize people have to get on and off the train and have restraints checked don't they??

 

Yes, but then there's Olympia Looping - where a train unloads, loads, and dispatches in about twenty-five seconds...

[BarryH]

There's always Fuji-Q capacity...

 

(Actual-Six Flags)/100 = Fuji-Q capacity