Sunday Statshot

15
May

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that make petrol pricing and transport work (or not):

At $2.78/L, you'd think that less people would drive in Istanbul, Turkey. You couldn't be more wrong. Image by flickr user adstream.

World’s largest proven oil reserves: Venezuela

World’s cheapest gasoline: Venezuela

Cost: $0.02/L ($1.40/L in Toronto)

Cost to fill up Hummer: $1.50 US

Average driving speeds in Caracas: 11-15 km/h

Last year roads were built: 1970

Number of cars in 1970: 200,000

Today: 1,400,000

Time to travel 2 miles via car: 2hrs 30 minutes

Via motorcycle: 15 minutes

Cost to subsidize low petrol prices: $9,000,000,000/year

Last attempt to de-subsidize petrol prices: 1989

Result: Thousands dead

World’s most expensive gasoline: Turkey

Cost: $2.78/L

Average commute times: 2-3 hours

Total length of underground metro network: 55km

Percentage of population owning cars: 25

Most popular form of transportation: Private car

Percent of trips by car: 26%

By rail: 4.6%

Estimate number of new cars on the road in Istanbul per day: 600



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Sunday Statshot
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08
May

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that make transportation subsidization work (or not):

Subsidizing transportation - whether car, rail, bus, airplane - tends to spark heated debates. Unfortunately, contradictory evidence often leaves the public dazed, confused and disinterested about the merits from both sides. Image by Flickr user TheeErin.

Transit subsidy: Difference between operating costs and passenger fare revenues

Range of rail transit operating cost subsidies in US: 29-89%

Bus transit: 57-89%

Transit subsidy in LA: 82%

Washington: 76%

Average public transit operating costs per passenger mile for peak travel: 33-99 cents

Subsidies received by Amtrak passengers per trip: $57.04

Commercial air passengers: $6.35

Mass transit riders: $0.95

Commercial bus passengers: $0.10

Subsidies per passenger mile for mass transit: $0.193

Amtrak: $0.254

Commercial airlines: $0.008

Commercial buses: $0.0005

Automobiles: $0.0001

Average annual subsidy for mass transit between 2002-2009: $9.5 billion

Cost of GM bailout: $52 billion

Number of times more capital funding invested in highway subsidies than in public transit: 9

Cost of cumulative net subsidy of highway construction since 1947: $600 billion

Cost of killing Bin Laden since 2001: $1.27 trillion

Subsidies received by transit agencies from Highway Trust Fund: $10.7 billion

Percentage of Americans that would cut highway aid to balance federal budget: 12%

Percentage of Americans that would cut transit aid to balance federal budget: 27%



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01
May

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that make solar energy work (or not):

Solar energy is for everyone! And apparently affordable too. Image by Flickr user Edwinek.

Percentage of electricity in US supplied by solar: <1%

Number of times more solar panels installed in Germany than US: 3x

Number of times more solar energy produced by Italy than the US: 3x

Record high cost for a barrel of oil: $147

Cost to produce equivalent amount of energy in an oil barrel with solar panels: $450

Cost of coal generated electricity: $0.07/kwh

Natural gas: $0.06/kwh

Solar: $0.22/kwh

Percentage of worldwide solar panels manufactured in US: 5%

In China: 50%

Percentage decrease in solar panel costs due to Chinese investment in recent years: 50%

Estimated continued cost reduction in solar energy production: 5-8%/year

Solar panelled homes: Premium selling price

Average cost of installing 3100 watt solar system on your home: $17,000

Average premium due to solar system installation: $17,000

Energy production of world’s largest solar farm in Canada: 80 megawatts

Energy production from world’s future largest solar farm in South Africa: 5000 megawatts

Future of solar energy/world energy production: Spaced based solar power

Proposed space solar power project by NASA by 2050: $3 trillion

Energy produced: 2000 MW – 5000 MW

US annual electric energy consumption: 3,700,000 MW

 



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Sunday Statshot
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24
Apr

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that make urban redevelopment work (or not):

World infamous spike house in Chongqing China. Owners fought off developers for 3 years before finally vacating the site.

Definition of a “Spike”: A holdout threatening a larger development plan

Percent of world’s population now living in urban areas: >50%

Urban growth in Seattle between 2005-2008: 10,600 housing units

Number of urban villages: 38

Ms. Edith Macefield: Seattle’s infamous spike

Age of home: 111 years old

Compensation offered but rejected by Ms. Macefield: $1 million

Ultimate fate: “UP” movie promotion house

Austin Spriggs: Washington D.C.’s spike

Age of home: 116 years

Cost of home purchase in 1980: $135,000

Assessed home value in 2003: $200,000

Compensation offered but rejected by Mr. Spriggs: $3,000,000

Ultimate fate: Future pizza shop

Chinese equivalent to a spike: Nail House

Wu family: Owner of Chongqing’s spike

Number of former residents living nearby Ms. Wu: 280

Compensation given to neighbours: $320,000/household

Compensation seeked by Wu family: $777,000

Ultimate fate: Demolition

Cai Zhuxiang: Owner of Shenzhen’s spike

Compensation offered: $650,000

Compensation received before vacating site: $1,000,000

Ultimate fate: Demolition

Score for US developers: 0

For Chinese developers: 2

 



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17
Apr

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that make rising gasoline prices work (or not) for public transit:

Skyrocketing gas prices are steadily increasing levels of transit ridership not seen since 2008. Image by Michael Mistretta

Cost of driving in 2008: 71 cents per mile

Cost of driving in 1950: 9 cents per mile

Percentage decrease in gasoline purchased as correlated to a 10% increase in gasoline prices between 2001-2006: <1%

Percentage decrease in gasoline purchased as correlated to a 10% increase in gasoline prices between 1975-1980: ~3.5%

Average cost of gas in US today: $3.47/gallon ($0.92/litre)

Percentage higher than last year: 28%

Number of fewer gallons of gas pumped in April 2011 compared to April 2010: 2.4 million

Overall public transit ridership increase in 2008 due to gas cost spike: 4%

Percent of transit agencies experiencing capacity constraints in 2007-2008 during gas price spike: 85

San Diego Trolley ridership in February, 2010: 2.2 million

In February, 2011: 2.3 million

Transit ridership increase in Santa Clara, California: 7.4%

Cincinnati, Ohio: 10%

Tampa, Florida: 18%

Durham, North Carolina: 21.8%

Estimated additional transit trips with $4/gallon gas prices: 670 million

With $6/gallon gas prices: 2.7 billion

Number of service hours cut (i.e. due to budget cutbacks) from Orange County’s transit service in 2011: 300,000

Light rail ridership elasticity in response to gas prices: 0.27-0.38

Bus ridership elasticity: 0.04

Total savings on gas and other costs if residents in largest 51 US metropolitan areas reduced driving by just 1 mile per day: $29 billion/year

Percentage of Americans without access to public transit: 46



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10
Apr

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that makes suspended urban transit work (or not):

The Aerobus

Aerobus operating directly above street traffic in Mannheim's 1976 BUGA (Garden Festival)

Aerobus: Self-propelled suspended urban transit

Inventor: Gerhard Mueller

First installation: 1970, Schmerikon, Switzerland

Distance between Aerobus tower spans: 0.6km

Distance between Peak2Peak gondola tower span: 3.0km

Only major installation: 1975, BUGA Mannheim, Germany

Months in service: 6

Riders served: 2.5 million

Length: 2.8km

Aerobus vehicle length: 19.5m

Standard bus length: 12m

Capacity: 100 persons

Bus capacity (crush): 70-80 persons

Weight: 11 tons

Bus weight: 20 tons

Number of incidents: 1 (Mannheim mayor evacuated via ladder during 1974 test run)

Year system completely dismantled: 1987

1980 Kuala Lumpur Aerobus proposal: Failed

2000 Chongqing Aerobus proposal: Failed

System under development: Weihai, China

Estimated cost per kilometer: $23 million

Cost per kilometer for LRT: $20-225 million

Year slated for construction completion: 2011

Number of Aerobus systems in operation today: 0

Number of suspended urban transit monorail systems in operation today: 3 (Wuppertal, Chiba, Shonan)




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Sunday Statshot
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03
Apr

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

A quick look at some of the things that will make future urban mobility work (or not):

Reinventing the Automobile – Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century:

The Ultra Small Vehicle

First self-propelled vehicle:  1769, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot

First gasoline-fuelled vehicle: 1885, Karl Benz

Number of vehicles in US today: 850 million

Number of times vehicles would circle planet if parked side to side: 100

Number of US jobs tied directly and indirectly automobiles: 14 million

Reason for lack of uptake of electric car: “Range Anxiety”

Range of first steam engines invented: 30 miles

Conventional automobile: 300 miles

Electric vehicles: 100-400 miles

Percentage of commuters travelling less than 50 miles a day: 80%

Percentage of travel under congested conditions in 2005: 32%

Percentage of traffic congestion caused by bottlenecks: 40%

Percentage of day a vehicle is parked: 80-90%

Average urban driving speeds: 15-25 miles per hour

Solution: Ultra Small Vehicle (USV)

Length: <100 inches

Number of cars a typical Manhattan block can accommodate: 80

Number of Ultra Small Vehicles: 250

Size of parking lot holding 100 Ultra Small Vehicles compared to 100 conventional vehicles: 4x smaller

Weight of USV: < 1000 pounds

Weight of conventional automobile: 20x more than driver

Cost of driving mid-size sedan in US in 2008: 55 cents per mile

Cost of rechargeable battery-electric vehicles: 2 cents per mile

Average weekday capacity for Toronto’s Yonge Subway: 26,000 pphpd

Potential Ultra Small Vehicle capacity: 45,000 pphpd

*Note: Unlinked stats referenced from book: Reinventing the Automobile



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Sunday Statshot
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