Confusing Ride on the Ferris Wheel

There are 10 two-seater cars attached to a Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel turns so that one car rotates through the exit platform every minute. 

The wheel began operation at 10 in the morning and shut down 30 minutes later. 

What's the maximum number of people that could have taken a ride on the wheel in that time period?

Here is count of people enjoying the ride!

Peoples Enjoying Ferris Wheel Ride

What was the puzzle?

Let's simplify the situation by naming 10 cars as A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J.

Suppose the Car A is at the exit platform at 10:00 AM. Obviously it can be 'loaded' with 2 peoples say A1-A2.

At 10:01 AM, the Car B will be at the exit platform which can be 'loaded' with 2 more peoples say B1-B2.

So continuing this way, at 10:09 AM the car J will be loaded with peoples J1-J2.

At 10:10 AM, the Car A will be again at the exit platform and now A1-A2 can get off the board to allow 2 more new peoples A3-A4 to get on the board.

At 10:11 AM, the Car B will be at the exit platform where B3-B4 will replace B1-B2. 

Continuing this way, at 10:19 AM the J1-J2 in the Car J will be replaced by J3-J4.

So far, 10 x 4 = 40 different peoples would have enjoyed the ride. 

It's clear that every car takes 10 minutes to be at the exit platform after once it goes through it. That's how Car A is at the exit platform at 10:10 AM, 10:20 AM and it can be at 10:30 AM as well when the wheel is supposed to be shut down.

Now, since wheel needs to be shut down 10:30 AM, emptying all the cars must be started except Car A for the reason stated above.

Therefore, at 10:20, peoples A5-A6 replace A3-A4. Thereafter, every car should be emptied. So, far 40 + 2 = 42 different people have boarded on the cars of the wheel.

So, at 10:21 AM, the Car B is emptied, at 10:22 AM, the Car C should be emptied and so on.

At 10:29 AM, J3-J4 of Car J get out of the car and finally at 10:30 AM, A5-A6 get out of the Car A. 

Now, the ferris wheel can be shut down with no one stuck at any of cars.

To conclude, 42 different peoples can enjoy the ride in given time frame.