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Line Utilization Data - Load Average

Started by asaphxiix, February 08, 2013, 07:35:22 AM

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asaphxiix

Hello,

Currently, to my understanding, there is no way to view a history of line utilization - only the current load.

After investigating, I've found that the free capacity graph (which registers a free seat for every free seat between each pair of stops on the route) is quite useless:

1. You can have different distances between pairs of stops, while they are treated equally for the free capacity purpose. For instance, a line has some stops in a city, then going to another city which is very far (with no stops on the way), and has some stops there. So if it was full inside the cities, but empty between them, it would register as mostly or almost completely full (depending on the number of stops inside the cities), while in fact it was mostly empty and not utilized. So considering this, unless your lines have identical distances between each pair, the data in the free capacity graph is hardly relevant at all.

2. It cannot be compared to the graph of 'Trips', since there could be a different number of trips made on the same journey, even when it is constantly 100% full. For instance, a convoy of 50 seats which is 100% full going A-E, can do it with 50 trips each way, or with 200 trips (if all pax get off and are replaced by other pax at each intermediate stop).

3. Even if distances were the same, and you multiplied number of pairs of stops by convoy capacity to use the free capacity data, usually you don't know how many trips the train does every month. So it will still be useless.



So to make up for an important need to determine average line utilization percentage over time, I ask to make a graph of average utilization % over time, in the line management / convoy charts windows, instead of, or in addition to the existing free capacity graph. Similarly to Average Speed graph in Simutrans Experimental, this graph should average the load percentage during a whole month (or trip? I don't actually know how average speed works in STX).

Hope this will be easy to implement and approved.

Thanks!
Asaph

Fabio

Three graph would be useful: average load, peak load and min load. Comparing them all you would see how well balanced one line is.

ӔO

line capacity ought to be calculated with speed in mind.

100 containers travelling at 50km/h has the same, theoretical, capacity as 50 containers travelling at 100km/h

average speed * total capacity = line capacity

Down side is that it becomes some arbitrary number that only makes sense when comparing two lines.
My Sketchup open project sources
various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

Colour safe chart:

asaphxiix

But at any rate, unlike line utilization, line capacity is rather constant, and can even be calculated manually.