Date: _____________

Validus Preparatory Academy 10th Grade Math Class

Group Worksheet 3: How Many Riders?

STEP 1 – Using the provided maps, PL-1 and PL-2, and plot the route that your subway line will
take as accurately as possible. A different person should do each map, and you should compare
routes when both are done. These maps show population density and change in population
broken up by district, according to the 2000 Unites States Census. As the key to the map
shows, the darker colors show higher population density or greater change in population. Use
the map and the chart below to count up the total number of each type of district that your
subway line passes through. We will use this data to estimate the number of people that will
ride your subway line, much like the MTA does before deciding whether it is worth it to build a
new subway line.

Instructions – put a mark in the box corresponding to each “district category” as you count it.
Add it up at the end for the totals section. Then use the “Points Conversion” factor to find the
total number of points your subway line gets.

MAP PL-1 150 + 100-149.9 50-99.9 25-49.9 Under 25

TALLY

TOTAL
Points 15 10 5 3 1
Conversion:
TOTAL
POINTS:
MAP PL-2 1000+ 500-999 100-499 -499 to -100 -999 to -1000 or
-500 less
TALLY

TOTAL
Points 5 3 1 -1 -3 -5
Conversion:
TOTAL
POINTS:

Add up the total number of points from all sections above:

VALIDUS PREPARATORY ACADEMY: AN EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING SCHOOL (DOE O9X263) | P A G E | 1

 Date: _____________
Validus Preparatory Academy 10th Grade Math Class
STEP 2 – Another factor that influences the number of riders is the number of stops that the
train makes. This factor has both a positive and a negative effect. If your train has more stops,
more people live close to a stop and will therefore be more likely to take the train. However, if
your train stops too frequently, it will travel very slowly. When a train travels very slowly, fewer
people will want to ride it because it takes too long to get where you want to go.

How many miles of track is your subway going to be? ________________

(If you don’t know yet, your group has some catching up to do! Draw your route, and measure
it to scale! I’m looking for the number of miles, not inches.)

Instructions – let T be the total miles of track that your group measured last week (make sure to
use the number of miles, and not the number of inches on the map!). Let S be the total number
of stations that your subway line will stop at (we don’t know this number for sure yet, even if
you made a guess last week). Choose a number of stops so that the ratio of track miles to
stops, T/S, is less than or equal to 1 and greater than or equal to ½. In other words,

0.5 ≤ T/S ≤ 1.0

REMEMBER: You cannot spend more than $30 million on subway stations, and each station
costs $1.6 million (in other words, 1.6*s ≤ 30 - do the math!)

Got it? Good. How many stops? ________ And what is your ratio T/S? _______

STEP 3: Let’s make an estimate of the total number of riders that will ride your proposed subway
line each week day. Use the following equation, substituting the values that you should already
have written down (except x!) for each variable described below.

X = the total number of estimated riders

T = the total miles of track (measured last week)
S = the total number of stops your train will make
P = the total number of points from the other side of the worksheet

x=

All solved? Congratulations – you have an official estimate of the number of people who will
ride your proposed subway line. The next step will be to pick exactly where to make the
subway stops, based on major street crossings, connections with buses and other subway
lines, business/tourist attractions, and population density. We’ll work on this another day.

VALIDUS PREPARATORY ACADEMY: AN EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING SCHOOL (DOE O9X263) | P A G E | 2