Scheduling: Terms and Steps

Lesson objective

Identify and define terms and variables involved in scheduling transit service.

Identify impact of scheduling on transit system success.

Scheduling Goal and Variables

• Goal: least possible number of vehicles and operators to deliver the service design
• Key variable is platform time. Platform time is the total of these elements:
• Pull-out allowance (deadhead): Time taken to get the vehicle from the garage to the route start?
• Revenue trip: In-service time plus layovers
• Pull-in deadhead: How long from the end of the route to the garage?
• Blocking is determining vehicle schedules
• Runcutting is cutting the blocks into operator (driver) assignments.