Los Angeles Downtown People Mover (DPM) Operational Analysis

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Centerhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15269941981PDFTech ReportPriver, Arthur S.Dooley, Thomas M.John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. Urban Mass Transportation AdministrationUnited States. Urban Mass Transportation AdministrationUnited StatesCentral business districtsForecastingHeadwaysPeople moversRapid transitTravel demandVehicle capacityWaiting timeDOT-TSC-UMTA-80-4;UMTA-MA-06-0081-81-1Two different studies were performed by the Research and Special Programs Administration of the Transportation Systems Center in response to the concerns of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration about the ability of the planned Los Angeles Downtown People Mover (DPM) to handle the projected passenger demand for the year 2000. The first study addressed the question of whether the approximately 100,000 passengers per day in the year 2000 can be handled if the system headway is reduced to 60 seconds. The second study examined the more general issue of what train capacities are required at different headways to handle the demand with alternative passenger waiting time goals. This paper addresses these two areas separately, even though the second one arose from the first study. The approach used to analyze each issue is given, along with the underlying assumptions that were made. The results are then presented and conclusions drawn. The first study showed that the demand level projected for the year 2000 can be handled not only with 60-second headways, but also with 75-second headways using the nominal 164-passenger capacity train. The demand can be satisfied with 90-second headways if 200-passenger (crush-loaded) capacity trains are employed. The second study produced curves showing minimum train capacities required at headways ranging from 45 to 105 seconds to meet the requirement that 95 percent of the passengers at the worst-case station have waiting times of less than two or three minutes. The train capacities increased monotonically from eighty or so up to the 240 range.138