Fun With Statistics 2016

[Gutterflower]

Hi all

 

It has been 3 years since I've done this but I do always enjoy what weird and wonderful results it throws up.

I am a geophysicist by trade so the combination of maths and roller coasters has a certain charm for me at the same time this is all for fun and the numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

I shall explain why as we progress but in essence as we go back in time the numbers are harder to verify and there is always going to be a little room for error with all the facts and figures found on the Internet. All numbers used here unless stated otherwise are taken from the excellent RCDB and all errors and mistakes are my own.

 

I apologise for the way this first post is Bar Chart heavy. Things will improve in later posts.

 

First up lets start simply.

The graph below shows the number of operating coasters per continent right now.

Asia clearly dominates the numbers but i found it surprising Europe beats North America. Antarctica obviously has 0

Australia needs to work on its coaster count but i found the lack of coasters in South America surprising.

 

Next up we have All Time coasters per continent. So this is all coasters that have ever existed on a continent according to the RCDB.

Interestingly USA jumps massively here. As shown by the next graph the USA has a whole load of coasters we know existed but no longer exist. Strangely Australia's numbers increase significantly. The next graph shows all coasters that no longer exist on each continent.

 

There is a certain obvious error here. We obviously don't know stuff from Asia beyond a certain point. As we go further back the data becomes less reliable. This is something we will look at later on. The RCDB is getting more accurate as we go along but when you look further back things become less certain.

North America and Australia are the only two continents that have more coasters now closed than coasters currently operating.

 

A classic graph from these articles is the number of coasters per country. When i first started these the USA dominated the graphs but over time China started to take the lead. These days China dominates.

China and the USA still completely dominate the graph though with Japan, Germany and the UK filling up the top 5.

 

However I've learnt that this graph shows very little in real life. We all know china is the most populous place on the planet. So how many coasters are there per person really?

China does poorly here. But there are some countries that do really well. Denmark, UAE and Sweden are the top hitters but the UK, Netherlands and Belgium do well. India the second most populous country in the world does badly here. but china finishes above Russia.

 

There is another check we can do. Number of coasters per square km.

The Netherlands and Belgium have a strong showing here. Over taking Denmark, Sweden and the UK. If you want to live near a coaster the Netherlands is the place to be. Australia is perhaps not.

 

Another way to look at this is parks. How many parks are there on each continent?

Once again Asia dominates the field but Europe comes in second.

 

We can break this down further. How many parks are there per country? we have already seen coasters per Country above.

China dominates again with the USA in second. Japan, Germany and the UK take up the top 5 once again.

 

But how do these 2 stats combine. How many coasters does each countries parks have on average?

Again Denmark leads the field with a massive 3.8 coasters per park. The USA has a strong showing here but the UAE does really badly with less that 1 coaster per park. This is because there are a number of parks in the UAE that are still operating but have closed all their coasters.

 

This is just part one of this thread. Next time I plan to focus on the coasters and companies themselves.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Gutterflower

[Mrlittle]

That was a fun and interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

[Password121]

I'm a big fan of this. Looking forward to more.

[bluestreak]

Very interesting. Looking forward to more!

[GCI Wooden]

I love this. Thanks for posting it, I find this type of stuff fascinating, as well.

 

Thanks for posting!

Edited August 13, 2016 by GCI Wooden

[SharkTums]

Fun post, I love statistics!

[theredskull84]

Very cool information here!

[JordyC]

I love this!! Interesting to see some of the less popular countries at the top of the lists. Thanks for posting!

[gardyloo!]

I love statistics, Keep em coming

[djcoastermark]

Fun bits of trivia, I like. I need to show these stats to people I know that think amusement parks and coasters are an American (USA, specifically) phenomena .

[coasterer]

Thanks for doing this, excited for more!

[Gutterflower]

Hi all.

Thanks for the comments above.

 

I am really sorry it's taken this long to do part 2. I am at that part of my life that friends weddings are taking over everything and I've just not had the time i planned for this orginally. It may take me longer than planned but i promise I'll get these out over time.

 

Last time i mentioned I would look at coaster statistics. The most obvious one here is how many coaster are built per year.

 

This graph shows a clear upward trend over the last 10 years. But it is worth noting that this is based off of RCDB data and our tracking of Chinese coasters has got much better over the last 10 years thanks to people like Darren Mullins, Gavin Jones, Lisa Scheinin, Myself and many others. So details further back are less reliable.

 

Again i also have to say 2016 data is incomplete. Both of these points need to be noted for this graph. The number of new coasters in the USA and China

There are really strong trends here. And I dont think the increase in knowledge can account for all of it. China is having a coaster boom and the USA is having a bit of a dip. Again the 2016 data is incomplete hence the massive dive in 2016.

 

Lets have a look at individual coasters built in China from 4 major companies.

THis graph shows B&M, Mack, Intamin and MVR/Gravity Group and their sales in China per year. theres no clear trend for anyone except the Gravity Group/Martin & Vleminckx which lead us on to this.....

 

We are all well aware that China is leading he way with wooden coasters recently so I decided to see if its affected the number of wooden coasters built overall.

This graph suggests not. 2000 is a clear anomaly here with 17 new wooden coasters built. With 2005 the low point with only 1 built. Since then the graph has fluctuated up and down but shows no huge gains.

 

However it is interesting to take some of the biggest western manufactures in China and see how much of their output is in the Chinese market

There is no strong correlation here for most companies but The Gravity Group and Martin & Vleminckx have a really high output in China with a strong showing since 2008. Arguably most of the best traditional wooden coasters in the last few years are in China (Excluding RMC here) and China has three traditional inverting woodies too.

 

Another interesting graph is the number of coasters currently operating from each major company.

There is a lot of interesting stuff here. Vekoma dominate but Zamperla and Golden Horse bring up a good second and third. Wiegand come in fouth and their recent inclusion on the RCDB is telling. I know that a good chunk of Wiegands rides are not on the DB and i wouldn't be surprised to see them top soon.

 

What i find interesting is that Mack and B&M are pretty much level right now and Intamin are only just ahead. You have to wonder how many projects at Intamin B&M worked on.

 

Some of the Chinese companies have less than i thought and with Hebei Zhongye perhaps the worst of the 4 major Chinese companies having more than the two Beijing companies.

 

Doppelmayr are doing poorly though

 

That's it for now. And I'm sorry for the shortness of this episode. But Ep 3 shouldn't be too long

Edited August 23, 2016 by Gutterflower

[I305forever]

^ Very interesting.

[bluestreak]

Very, very interesting! Thanks for doing this.

[chickenbowl]

I think your data on the wooden coasters built per year is wrong. 2006 had more than one coaster built, El Toro, Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler, and Thunderbird were all built that year. You may have it mixed with 2005 where Hades was the only wooden built.

[I305forever]

^ That's true. Maybe he menat wooden coasters that opened in 2006.

[GCI Wooden]

^ That's true. Maybe he menat wooden coasters that opened in 2006.

Those coasters did open in 2006...

[Gutterflower]

I think your data on the wooden coasters built per year is wrong. 2006 had more than one coaster built, El Toro, Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler, and Thunderbird were all built that year. You may have it mixed with 2005 where Hades was the only wooden built.

 

Good spot.

This is exactly why i run these through forum posts before writing big articles.

Somewhere in by spreadsheet things seem to have shifted slightly in that table so I've re-done it with the correct numbers

 

I've also redone the operating coasters per company graph which i somehow missed Vekoma off of. I also added a ton of other smaller companies i missed off to bulk it up a bit.

[chickenbowl]

I think your data on the wooden coasters built per year is wrong. 2006 had more than one coaster built, El Toro, Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler, and Thunderbird were all built that year. You may have it mixed with 2005 where Hades was the only wooden built.

 

Good spot.

This is exactly why i run these through forum posts before writing big articles.

Somewhere in by spreadsheet things seem to have shifted slightly in that table so I've re-done it with the correct numbers

 

I've also redone the operating coasters per company graph which i somehow missed Vekoma off of. I also added a ton of other smaller companies i missed off to bulk it up a bit.

 

Very nice! Thanks for doing this by the way! I'm a big numbers guys, and I love seeing things visually - I'm sure I'm not the only one either!