How to Choose the Best Route for Electric Vehicles at your Attraction
Your electric vehicles are integral to your guests’ comfort, enjoyment and the smooth running of your attraction. It is vital that you choose a system that meets all of your present and future requirements. But how do you decide on the best transport route around your attraction?
Route Mapping
Using the terrain data and information on the layout of major attractions within your site, TDI Production Solutions (TDI-PS) produce a route plan and flow chart. This demonstrates how best to distribute visitors during peak operating hours, and throughout the day. The data helps inform the charging points, bridges, design and the width of the route. It’s not always as straight forward as you might think.
It is important to work with the natural landscape of your attractions. Guadalajara Zoo is surrounded by impressive hills. This terrain means the tour must climb and descend gradients of up to 13%.
Vital things to consider when route mapping are the locations and popularity of your attractions, as well as the terrain.
Capacity Analysis
The number of vehicles required is a balance between budget and operational efficiency. Once the terrain analysis and route mapping are complete, it is important to analyse the number of visitors to ensure your transport system can cope at peak times. This is how TDI-PS can help you achieve the best transport solution for your capacity, which can vary at different times during the day and season.
Due to the popularity of Northwest Trek with families, each tram carries up to 56 passengers with a fleet of 6 trams. Their requirements were to move fewer passengers, more often. In comparison, Toronto Zoo required the design of a larger carriage to facilitate 28 adults in each carriage and 84 passengers in total, with a fleet of four trams. Both meet similar capacity requirements in a manner that suits each operation.
They communicate with you to understand peak and off-peak capacity, as well as flow throughout the operational day. These numbers will vary at different times, as well as seasonally. It is important to understand this to provide you with a people mover of maximum efficiency, not capacity.
Happy guests are ones that return again and again, and an effective people mover system is fundamental to that
Duty Cycle Mapping
Range and charging periods for electric people movers can be a concern for attractions looking to move over to a sustainable transport solution.
New fast-charging technology developed by TDI-PS’s sister company, Transport Design International, can extend busy daily duty cycles to meet parks’ operational needs. They advise you on the best battery type and location of chargers that will deliver the durability needed for a busy operation.
The philosophy of our industry must be to move towards renewable and sustainable energy choices. The battery-powered vehicles and duty cycle mapping they offer can also be made to fit your sustainability goals.
In the case of Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, the key factor in allowing the park to move over to an electric battery-powered fleet was matching the tram operation to the park’s duty cycle.
Using route mapping and capacity analysis, TDI-PS calculated the distance that could be covered on an overnight charge. It was evident additional charging throughout the day would be required. This had to be carried out without long delays between tours. Northwest Trek Wildlife Park can run by charging at the terminus stations throughout the day within the 10-minute scheduled stop.
Sustainable Energy Choices
Carbon Zero electric people movers are a massive step forward, to the benefit of the entire leisure industry. Since late 2019 TDI-PS have supplied 14 fully electric people movers to attractions located in the USA, Canada and Mexico. There are two ongoing new projects for electric wire-guided autonomous vehicles and a fleet of bi-directional electric trams with a capacity of 170 passengers.
The IAAPA Zero Carbon conference in Orlando emphasised the need to play our part in reducing carbon in the atmosphere. While the leisure sector is still in recovery it is a good time to introduce the full range, so the options are to hand when the time is right for you to make that change.
“Here at TDI-PS we pride ourselves on first-class service from the initial planning process to delivering and maintaining your vehicle. We support you at every step from design and theming to maintenance.” – Sam Sharp, Commercial Manager
Talk to TDI-PS today to be one step closer to the best transport solution for your visitors:
