BIKE: Re: Monorail opens in Vegas

[Nawdry]

At 2004-07-18 13:38, Patrick Goetz wrote:

>The average speed of the LVM is misleading.  This relatively short system 
>includes 7 stops and 4 90-degree turns (see the route map at 
>http://www.lvmonorail.com/about_04_fastfacts.html), which is why the 
>average speed is so low.  Further, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports 
>that the route is actually 4.4 miles, in which case the average speed 
>would be 18.85 mph.
>
>According to the American Public Transportation Association, the Aaverage 
>Street Rail Speed (FY2002) is 15.3 mph 
>(http://www.apta.com/research/stats/rail/lrsum.cfm), which includes lots 
>of long straight segments.  The bottom line is that the short, circuitous, 
>many-stopped Las Vegas monorail is still 15-20% faster than the any LRT 
>system in the country, on average.  That's pathetic.


This is by far not the most egregious of Patrick's deceptions, but it is 
certainly one of the easiest to correct.  And, since I still have allowance 
for another posting within my daily limit before midnight strikes, I'll set 
it right.

The route length of the Las Vegas monorail is indeed 3.9 miles, as Michael 
Bluejay stated, and thus the average speed is indeed about 17.5 mph as Dave 
Dobbs reported.

That's based on the ACTUAL end-to-end running speed - not including layover 
and "housekeeping" time at the end of each run.

To this SCHEDULE speed, Patrick compares the reported average total daily 
OPERATING speed for light rail transit. There are two problems with this.

First, it's an AVERAGE of ALL the "light rail"-classified operations in the 
country - including relatively slow historic streetcars in places like New 
Orleans, Memphis, and the Seattle Waterfront line.

More serious - it includes layover and turning time at the end of each run 
- time spent by operators having a smoke, drinking coffee, and reversing 
their vehicles or trains.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that Patrick is using 
an apples-to-oranges comparison here - and is basically trying to flim-flam 
you.

If he tried this in a graduate logic seminar, he'd flunk.

It makes far more sense to compare the LV monorail's end-to-end time to the 
similar end-to-end  running time of a surface LRT line.  Portland's 
Eastside line, for example, takes 47 minutes to traverse 15.0 miles - an 
average of 19.1 mph (with lots of street and median running plus a segment 
alongside the Banfield Expressway).  This line, too, includes serpentine 
and right-angle turns, plus some fairly steep grades.  San Jose's LRT, 
routed in a boulevard median between Civic Center and BayPointe, averages 
16.2 mph.

Sound planning decisions - monorail, light rail, "BRT", PRT, or whatever - 
need to be made with sound, reliable information.  Playing carnival-sucker 
games with numbers does a disservice to us all.

LH