New promotional video for Q-Line.
https://youtu.be/EF1o7HQGVVs
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New promotional video for Q-Line.
https://youtu.be/EF1o7HQGVVs
Thanks,
My other question is what happens if a car breakdowns say around W. Warren, near WSU.
How do they get that car off the track?
Does that essentially create a bottleneck in much of the system?
The subway system I know has parallel tracks where the other cars could switch over and single track around the disabled car.
W/out dismissing specific issues, getting more cars circulating along the route will solve a lot of problems except breakdowns, ambulances in the way, etc.
I'd guess is that the success of the system will be the 85th percentile score [[time) for making a trip from one end to the other and also the amount of variability in times.
E.g., if the 85th percentile time from one end to the other end is say 25 minutes [[assuming that to mean that 85 percent of the times were less than that 85 percentile time) that might be deemed acceptable.
The question then becomes what are the times of say the 90th, 95th and even 99th percentile time?
If the 95th percentile time is say 40 minutes that is a significant problem.
Someone living downtown but working New Center wants reliable service and arrival time is important. It isn't like arriving at Comerica Park at 6:55 vs. 6:45.
Should we be excited, I'm not.
If the line averages 5,000 riders a day,
that still leaves it with fewer passengers
than the oft-maligned Detroit People Mover,
the downtown elevated 3-mile monorail loop
that opened in 1987 and was intended as a
piece of a wider system that failed to develop.
The 12-car People Mover last year had 2.1 million riders,
averaging nearly 6,000 a day — numbers that get inflated
because of events such as the Detroit auto show
and Red Wings games. It has 13 stations,
while the QLine has 20 stations spread over 12 stops.
Keep in mind that officials predicted that the People Mover would have 55,000 riders per day [[20+ MILLION per year)
Within a month or so of it's opening,.. that expectation had been reduced to 15,000 per day [[just under 5.5 million per year).
The reality ended up being about 1/10 of the original prediction,,... at 5,700 riders per day [[2.1 million per year).
It will be a year or two before we have any clue as to the Q-Line's success. It would be a 1 in a 1,000 shot though that the reality = the expectations. A few lines in the country have well exceeded the expectations,.. but most have fallen WAY short.
Basically it's really hard to predict, and one certainly can't use the opening weeks with free fares as a clue.
If it's anywhere near as successful as the People Mover,... perhaps it will be considered a success?
I believe I posted an article [[Freep?) showing that the last nine streetcar systems did as follows [[relative to expectations):
Six did worse [[than expected). Three did better.
I'm betting QLine will do better than expected.
Free until July 1
I'm not a big fan of giving a product [[or service) away for too long. The marketing theory is if the price is zero or too low, then the product or service is devalued in the eyes of the consumer.
That said, QLine appears to still have a lot of wrinkles to iron out so customers will be more forgiving if the service is free.
Isn't there an old saying: "don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Proverb[edit]
don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- Do not unappreciatively question a gift or handout too closely."
All of that said, I think the QLine folks are doing a very good job on the roll out and dealing what is a new mode of transportation [[DETROIT's QLine) that NO had experience.
Just because a rider has taken mass transit of any form [[subway, streetcar, BRT, etc.) in some other city, doesn't mean they walk up to a QLine station and be an experienced QLine rider...
I have noticed Detroit QLine riders seem almost entirely unaccustomed to rail transit or transit in general. Most shove their way onto the train as soon as the doors open, or alternately do not clear the area around the doors when arriving at a station... If you've used transit anywhere in the world you generally know to let people off before attempting to get on, and to make room for riders getting on. In addition, I've seen a lot of people under 60 sitting in the handicapped seats and not giving up their seats to elderly riders. Finally, a few people have brought on bikes without using the provided bike hooks, instead opting to take up 30sqft with their bike in the center of the car.
And as folks here posted, things can go badly wrong when streetcars and other vehicles try to be at the same place at the same time.
[[D.C. streetcar rear-ended a bus).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.c133000fa538
Latest news. Progress being made and plans to get better.
The price is still right: $0.00. :)
http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...day/417333001/
If the Q line served 100,000 passengers in its first month of operation, it carried about 3,300, on average, each day. Were there predictions that the service would eventually carry about 8,000 each day?
I believe 5K, but I'll look for it in writing.
Don't remember if the 5K was the financial 'break even' point.
Calling ProfessorScott
BTW, near the bottom of the article is a LOT of very good detail on adding service, training more drivers, etc. etc. to significantly improve wait times.
http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...day/417333001/
e.g.,
- More drivers are being trained and will be deployed in the coming weeks to allow the full implementation of a four-car service during off-peak operations and a five-car operation during peak service times.
I wish it was on wire longer. It's great that the battery is good enough to be off-wire for most of the trip, but it just makes wait times longer. The streetcars seem to always stop at either end for 10+ minutes to recharge.
Probably part of what makes the wait times so unpredictable too.
Well, there's no Kool-Aid and secondly, the ridership I've come across in incredibly diverse. Homeless, college students, older Mormon missionary couple [[they're not all 19 year olds!) going to the African-American History Museum, young families, and on and on. But have fun in your cynical, closed corner!
Thank you, you have your fun in the green zone subsidized by other Detroit taxpayers money. Had I answered "Why, yes I have" your answer probably would be different. It's a new carousel and it's free. Of course people are going to ride it. I notice you threw in "African-American" to drive the "diversity" point home.
No, I threw in the African-American History Museum because that's literally where they were going. The only diversity that brings out is the diversity of places that people use the streetcar for.
And if your answer was yes, your response of "sport jocks" wouldn't have been made because you would've seen the diversity of the people who ride it.