Group Names: _________________________________________________________________________

Validus Preparatory Academy 10th Grade Math Class

Group WS #5: Your Subway’s Impact

As part of your subway design proposal, your group will be required to mathematically
calculate the impact that the new subway line will have on the overall system. In addition to
knowing things like how many people will ride your new subway line (something that we
already calculated), it is also useful to know how much of an impact this new line will have on
the overall system. If you are adding on a small line, the proposal will look a lot different than if
you are doubling the size of NYC’s transit system.

To show how much we impact the subway line, we will use a calculation called percent change.
To calculate percent change, you must subtract the old total value from the new total value,
and divide the difference by the old total value. The resulting decimal can then be multiplied by
100 to get the percent change. The value can be positive or negative, depending on whether
your value shrank or grew. Please use the formula below.

Percent Change =

EXAMPLE:
Mr. Olsen’s math class used to have 27 people in it. Recently, four more students were added.
Calculate the percent change.

The percent change in size of Mr. Olsen’s math class was 14.8%

STEP 1: Calculate the percent change in total subway ridership

Currently, the average daily ridership on New York City subways is 7,881,642 people. On
Worksheet #3, your group used population data and mathematical equations to estimate the
number of daily riders that would ride your new subway line on the average day. What would
be the percentage change of the number of average daily riders between today and tomorrow
if your new subway line was magically built overnight?

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

Group Names: _________________________________________________________________________
Validus Preparatory Academy 10th Grade Math Class

STEP 2: Change in track miles

Currently, the New York City subway has exactly 660 miles of track. This includes the fact that each
subway line has at least two tracks down every route so that trains can move in each direction. Many
subway lines have three, four, and even five track lines down each route. The extra tracks are used for
express lines, track maintenance, and in case of backup or an accident.

Your new subway line will include three separate tracks. Using the length of your subway line (should
be listed on the back side of Worksheet #3), calculate the total number of miles of track that your
proposed subway line will add.

Next, calculate the percentage change that your track will make on the New York City subways:

STEP 3: Number of cars

Currently, the New York City subway system has 6,221 individual subway cars. In order to build your
new proposed subway line, you will have to buy new cars. You are given $100 million dollars for rolling
stock. You can only purchase subway cars in multiples of 10. Using the cost per car that you calculated
on the back side of Worksheet #5, calculate the maximum number of subway cars that you can
purchase.

How many cars can you purchase? Total cost of cars?

Using the number of cars that you just figured out (which should be a multiple of 10!), calculate the
percentage change in the total number of subway cars that your subway line will make on the overall
New York City subway system:

STEP 4: Subway stations

Currently, there are 468 subway stations. What is the percentage change in the number of stations?

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