Cars In A Tunnel

They could have just asked me.

Fire regulations peg the occupant capacity in the load and unload zones of one of the Loop’s three stations at just 800 passengers an hour. If the other stations have similar limitations, the system might only be able to transport 1,200 people an hour — around a quarter of its promised capacity.

Muskies will claim it's just a demonstration system, that when you build 400 more tunnels, or whatever, then the capacity goes up, but bottlenecks are bottlenecks and one of those bottlenecks is simply "how long does it take a few people to climb into an automobile." The capacity of a heavy rail subway system is of course way larger than that, but a "fairer" comparison is perhaps with a standard airport people mover. They aren't all the same, but 3-4,000 passengers each way is a fair number. Easier boarding, too, especially with a bag.