roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Hi all
It has been 3 years since I've done this but I do always enjoy what weird and wonderful results it throws up.
I am a geophysicist by trade so the combination of maths and roller coasters has a certain charm for me at the same time this is all for fun and the numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt.
I shall explain why as we progress but in essence as we go back in time the numbers are harder to verify and there is always going to be a little room for error with all the facts and figures found on the Internet. All numbers used here unless stated otherwise are taken from the excellent RCDB and all errors and mistakes are my own.
I apologise for the way this first post is Bar Chart heavy. Things will improve in later posts.
First up lets start simply.
The graph below shows the number of operating coasters per continent right now.
Asia clearly dominates the numbers but i found it surprising Europe beats North America. Antarctica obviously has 0
Australia needs to work on its coaster count but i found the lack of coasters in South America surprising.
Next up we have All Time coasters per continent. So this is all coasters that have ever existed on a continent according to the RCDB.
Interestingly USA jumps massively here. As shown by the next graph the USA has a whole load of coasters we know existed but no longer exist. Strangely Australia's numbers increase significantly. The next graph shows all coasters that no longer exist on each continent.
There is a certain obvious error here. We obviously don't know stuff from Asia beyond a certain point. As we go further back the data becomes less reliable. This is something we will look at later on. The RCDB is getting more accurate as we go along but when you look further back things become less certain.
North America and Australia are the only two continents that have more coasters now closed than coasters currently operating.
A classic graph from these articles is the number of coasters per country. When i first started these the USA dominated the graphs but over time China started to take the lead. These days China dominates.
China and the USA still completely dominate the graph though with Japan, Germany and the UK filling up the top 5.
However I've learnt that this graph shows very little in real life. We all know china is the most populous place on the planet. So how many coasters are there per person really?
China does poorly here. But there are some countries that do really well. Denmark, UAE and Sweden are the top hitters but the UK, Netherlands and Belgium do well. India the second most populous country in the world does badly here. but china finishes above Russia.
There is another check we can do. Number of coasters per square km.
The Netherlands and Belgium have a strong showing here. Over taking Denmark, Sweden and the UK. If you want to live near a coaster the Netherlands is the place to be. Australia is perhaps not.
Another way to look at this is parks. How many parks are there on each continent?
Once again Asia dominates the field but Europe comes in second.
We can break this down further. How many parks are there per country? we have already seen coasters per Country above.
China dominates again with the USA in second. Japan, Germany and the UK take up the top 5 once again.
But how do these 2 stats combine. How many coasters does each countries parks have on average?
Again Denmark leads the field with a massive 3.8 coasters per park. The USA has a strong showing here but the UAE does really badly with less that 1 coaster per park. This is because there are a number of parks in the UAE that are still operating but have closed all their coasters.
This is just part one of this thread. Next time I plan to focus on the coasters and companies themselves.
It has been 3 years since I've done this but I do always enjoy what weird and wonderful results it throws up.
I am a geophysicist by trade so the combination of maths and roller coasters has a certain charm for me at the same time this is all for fun and the numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt.
I shall explain why as we progress but in essence as we go back in time the numbers are harder to verify and there is always going to be a little room for error with all the facts and figures found on the Internet. All numbers used here unless stated otherwise are taken from the excellent RCDB and all errors and mistakes are my own.
I apologise for the way this first post is Bar Chart heavy. Things will improve in later posts.
First up lets start simply.
The graph below shows the number of operating coasters per continent right now.
Asia clearly dominates the numbers but i found it surprising Europe beats North America. Antarctica obviously has 0
Australia needs to work on its coaster count but i found the lack of coasters in South America surprising.
Next up we have All Time coasters per continent. So this is all coasters that have ever existed on a continent according to the RCDB.
Interestingly USA jumps massively here. As shown by the next graph the USA has a whole load of coasters we know existed but no longer exist. Strangely Australia's numbers increase significantly. The next graph shows all coasters that no longer exist on each continent.
There is a certain obvious error here. We obviously don't know stuff from Asia beyond a certain point. As we go further back the data becomes less reliable. This is something we will look at later on. The RCDB is getting more accurate as we go along but when you look further back things become less certain.
North America and Australia are the only two continents that have more coasters now closed than coasters currently operating.
A classic graph from these articles is the number of coasters per country. When i first started these the USA dominated the graphs but over time China started to take the lead. These days China dominates.
China and the USA still completely dominate the graph though with Japan, Germany and the UK filling up the top 5.
However I've learnt that this graph shows very little in real life. We all know china is the most populous place on the planet. So how many coasters are there per person really?
China does poorly here. But there are some countries that do really well. Denmark, UAE and Sweden are the top hitters but the UK, Netherlands and Belgium do well. India the second most populous country in the world does badly here. but china finishes above Russia.
There is another check we can do. Number of coasters per square km.
The Netherlands and Belgium have a strong showing here. Over taking Denmark, Sweden and the UK. If you want to live near a coaster the Netherlands is the place to be. Australia is perhaps not.
Another way to look at this is parks. How many parks are there on each continent?
Once again Asia dominates the field but Europe comes in second.
We can break this down further. How many parks are there per country? we have already seen coasters per Country above.
China dominates again with the USA in second. Japan, Germany and the UK take up the top 5 once again.
But how do these 2 stats combine. How many coasters does each countries parks have on average?
Again Denmark leads the field with a massive 3.8 coasters per park. The USA has a strong showing here but the UAE does really badly with less that 1 coaster per park. This is because there are a number of parks in the UAE that are still operating but have closed all their coasters.
This is just part one of this thread. Next time I plan to focus on the coasters and companies themselves.
