This Sunday I took a trip out to the Best Buy by the airport.  It was a little later in the afternoon when I boarded the Red Line to the airport.  The interesting thing that I noticed was that the number of patrons riding the Red Line, on a lazy Sunday afternoon overcast with dreary weather, was rather numerous.  With the new shopping available the number of riders getting on and off in the once empty stations between the Parkrose Sumner Station and the Airport Station increasing the Red Line will most likely have record numbers this year.

The once unused portion of the Red Line, between Gateway and the Airport, is now heavily utilized.  Of course the original number of riders was nonexistent because of the September 11th Twin Tower Attacks.  With the airport shut down and the nation in shock, many didn't wonder far from home during the subsequent months.  Let alone head out on the Red Line to the airport.

But now things are much different.  Even with airline patrons dwindling and fuel costs sky rocketing for the airlines, the Portland Airport still pulls solid rider counts from the Red Line.  The Parkrose Sumner Stop routinely is filled to capacity with even more riders coming in from various bus lines (#15, #12, etc) that then board the MAX Red Line to downtown.  I'd even step out on a whim here and say TriMet might need to bump up the number of MAX LRVs being used on the line in the next 2-5 years.

Currently I understand the Red Line to be at 15 minute frequencies, with a double then single car consist.  That equates to approximately 6 cars per hour.  During rush hour I believe the number of double LRV consists increase, but I've not been able to confirm that yet.

Just for the sake of curiosity...

6 LRVs.  Maximum load (at crush) capacity of about 250.  6 times 250 gives us the throughput of about 1500 per hour.  Not bad considering the line is not even close to capacity.  If TriMet bumps the LRV car count up to 8 per hour we now have 8 times 250 giving the line 2000 per hour.  Keep in mind, that throughput number is for ONE DIRECTION.  If you include the 8 in and 8 out then you have a 4000 person per hour capacity.

Banfield Corridor at Maximum Throughput?

With the Red Line, Blue Line, and future Green Line all using the Banfield Corridor as the ingress and egress from downtown, that stretch will be almost at capacity.  Each line will have 4 frequencies, for a total of 8 LRV cars each per hour.  With three lines that will be 3 times 8, giving us 24 cars per hour.  This is technically, until TriMet and the city does something about the Steal Bridge, about the most cars into the city we're going to get.

Take 24 cars times 250 and you end up with a massive 6000 persons per hour.  Yup, you got it, a total of 6000 in per hour at crush capacity.  Far more than one is managed on a single lane of traffic on the Interstate, which continually decreases as lanes are added (if they could be on the parallel I-84).  Ah, the beauty of mass transit.

Big Smile [:D]