View source for Finance:Crush load

[[File:Crowded train (160928169).jpg|thumb|250px|Crush load on a crowded train in Japan]]
{{Short description|High passenger vehicle occupancy leading to crushing}}
A '''crush load''' is a level of passenger loading in a transport vehicle which is so high that passengers are "crushed" against one another. It represents an extreme form of passenger loading, and normally considered to be representative of a system with serious capacity limitations.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp100/part%208.pdf |title=Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual |publisher=Transportation Research Board |date=6 February 2014 |access-date=1 April 2016}}</ref> Crush loads result from too many passengers within a vehicle designed for a much smaller number. Crush loaded trains or buses are so heavily loaded that for most passengers physical contact with several other nearby passengers is impossible to avoid.

==Definition==
[[File:India crowded train.jpg|thumb|Crush load on a crowded Indian Railways train]]
In the context of [[Finance:Transport economics|transport economics]] and planning, crush load refers to the maximum level of passenger load for a particular vehicle or rail carriage. Crush loads are calculated for the number of passengers per unit area, standing up.

Crush loads are not an issue for passengers that are seated, as passengers will not normally sit on one another.

Crush loads are most common on city buses and rail metro systems, where passenger loading is high, and most passengers stand. Airlines almost never have crush loads, nor do high speed and/or long-distance rail or long-distance bus routes, where all passengers are generally seated.

Crush loads are normally measured using number of standing passengers per {{convert|1|m2|sqyd}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Railway passenger vehicle capacity|url=http://www.railway-technical.com/Infopaper%202%20Railway%20Passenger%20Vehicle%20Capacity%20v3.pdf|publisher=Railway technical web pages|access-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117111115/http://www.railway-technical.com/Infopaper%202%20Railway%20Passenger%20Vehicle%20Capacity%20v3.pdf|archive-date=17 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Six passengers per square metre is often considered the practical limit on what can be accepted without serious discomfort to passengers. However, severe crush loads can be much in excess of this.<ref name="Hoel"/> Before the 1965–1982 Commuting Five Directions Operation <small>(ja:通勤五方面作戦)</small> project undertaken by Japanese National Railways (JNR) on five trunk railway lines serving the Greater Tokyo Area, crush load peak ridership on said lines regularly exceeded 200% to 300%{{Ref label|notes1|a|}} of each line's optimal route capacity. During the same period of time, many of Japan's subway lines in operation also saw similar overcrowding levels, which was similarly only ameliorated by building new extra lines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://seungylee14.substack.com/p/how-japan-saved-tokyos-rail-network |title=How Japan Saved Tokyo's Rail Network from Collapse (Part 1, 1945-1982) |work=seungylee14.substack.com }}</ref> Similar issues continue to persist on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system in South Korea, in particular Line 2, Line 9<ref>{{cite web | url=https://seungylee14.substack.com/p/hell-line-lessons-from-seouls-controversial | title='Hell Line': Lessons from Seoul's controversial privatized subway line }}</ref> and Gimpo Goldline, where, especially due to the shorter train formations operated on the latter two lines, they are popularly nicknamed "hell trains".<ref>{{cite web |work=koreajoongangdaily.joins.com |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/06/10/why/korea-subways-public-transportation/20230610070010003.html |title=&#91;WHY&#93; Why 'hell trains' still exist on Seoul subways |date=10 June 2023 |access-date=9 January 2024 }}</ref>

In India, the term "super dense crush load" <ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/super-dense-crushload/ |title=Super-Dense Crushload |date=8 April 2009 }}</ref> has been coined by railway officials to describe passenger loads on peak-hour trains operating on the Mumbai Suburban Railway when carriages built for 200 passengers carry over 500, translating to 14–16 people per [[Square metre|square metre]]; not accounting for the many passengers who have no choice but to hitch onto overcrowded moving trains out of necessity.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bellman |first=Eric |date=18 April 2007 |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB117648872883969339 |title=Super Dense Crush Load |work={{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}} |access-date=8 February 2014 }}</ref> 

==Effects==
Crush loads in transport vehicles can result in many secondary issues, such as petty theft and pickpocketing, extreme discomfort for passengers, [[Social:Sexual harassment|sexual harassment]], and an inability for passengers to board and alight vehicles in a timely manner.

For a rail vehicle which has a crush load, passengers are touching and there is no space for another passenger to enter without causing serious discomfort to the passengers on board.<ref>Sacramento Regional Transit District. [http://www.sacrt.com/transitglossary.stm#C Glossary of Transit Terms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502012150/http://www.sacrt.com/transitglossary.stm#C |date=2 May 2017 }}. Retrieved 8 February 2014.</ref> According to Hoel ''et al.'' in ''Transportation Infrastructure Engineering'', operating at crush load increases dwell time (the length of time the transport vehicle remains in the station or stop) and reduces overall vehicle capacity per unit of time.<ref name = "Hoel">Hoel, Lester; Garber, Nicholas; Sadek, Adel (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=QkbGpZngUWwC&pg=PA177 ''Transportation Infrastructure Engineering: A Multimodal Integration, SI Version''], p. 177. Cengage Learning. {{ISBN|0495667897}}</ref>

Large dense concentrations of passengers can create dangerous conditions, both within transit vehicles and at overcrowded stations. In 2014, a news service in Mumbai, India reported several serious [[Engineering:Platform gap|platform gap]] mutilation incidents and a death within a few months, mostly attributed to crowded conditions.<ref name=KillerGap>{{cite news|title='Killer' gap between platform, train claims another life|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/killer-gap-between-platform-train-claims-another-life/|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=6 February 2014}}</ref> 

==See also==
*{{Annotated link|Headway}}
*{{Annotated link|Passenger load factor}}
*Passenger car (rail)
*Passenger pusher
*{{Annotated link|Route capacity}}
*{{Annotated link|Seating capacity}}

==Notes==
{{refbegin|}}
a. {{note|notes1}}Crowding levels defined by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlit.go.jp/tetudo/toshitetu/03_04.html|title = 混雑率の推移}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/06/national/tokyo-plans-new-effort-ease-crowding-rush-hour-trains/ |title=Tokyo plans new effort to ease commuter hell on rush-hour trains |first=Daisuke |last=Kikuchi |date=6 July 2017 |work=The Japan Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706120354/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/06/national/tokyo-plans-new-effort-ease-crowding-rush-hour-trains/ |archive-date=6 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

:100% — Commuters have enough personal space and are able to take a seat or stand while holding onto the straps or hand rails.
:150% — Commuters have enough personal space to read a newspaper.
:180% — Commuters must fold newspapers to read.
:200% — Commuters are pressed against each other in each compartment but can still read small magazines.
:250% — Commuters are pressed against each other, unable to move.
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Buses}}

[[Category:Transport economics]]
[[Category:Transportation engineering]]

{{Sourceattribution|Crush load}}