James is sitting outside, counting how many people go past him in vehicles. He has counted 52 vehicles so far today. He saw 12 trucks, a couple of buses, twice as many taxis, some motorbikes, and 30 cars. If the trucks held 2 people each, the buses held 15 people each, the taxis held 2 people each, the motorbikes held 1 person each, and the cars held 3 people each, how many passengers has James seen today? Think carefully first, then make a decision:
In the trucks, James saw 12 * 2 = 24 people. In the buses, he saw 2 * 15 = 30 people. He saw 2 * 2 = 4 taxis go past him. Therefore, he saw 4 * 2 = 8 people in the taxis. In the cars, he saw 30 * 3 = 90 people. Since we know how many vehicles James saw in total, we know that he saw 52 – 12 – 2 – 4 – 30 = 4 motorbikes. So, he saw 4 * 1 = 4 people on motorbikes. He has therefore seen a total of 24 + 30 + 8 + 90 + 4 = 156 people. So, the answer is 156.