Re: frequencies.txt questions - Devin Braun - com.googlegroups.googletransit

5 messages in com.googlegroups.googletransitRe: frequencies.txt questions

From	Sent On	Attachments
Bob Heitzman	16 Aug 2007 09:34
Joe Hughes	21 Aug 2007 13:56
Aaron Antrim	22 Aug 2007 18:55
Bob Heitzman	23 Aug 2007 09:54
Devin Braun	23 Aug 2007 11:03

Subject:	Re: frequencies.txt questions
From:	Devin Braun (devi...@sdmts.com)
Date:	08/23/2007 11:03:46 AM
List:	com.googlegroups.googletransit

On Aug 23, 9:54 am, Bob Heitzman <rhei...@gmail.com> wrote:

The way I read the spec a block links two or more trips together. My impression is that these trips are not on the same route as in your loop case. I'd guess in your loop case the trip record should have to have a null block_id.

A block is typically a vehicle task. If the next trip of a vehicle is on the same route, then the block_id can and should be specified.

For example, a passenger travelling on a looping route without bidirectional service with an origin before the layover and a destination after the layover, the trip planner would be able to tell the passenger to ride to the "end" of the loop, sit through the layover and stay on the bus until it continues on the next trip of the same route so that the passenger may complete their trip.

On Aug 22, 6:56 pm, Aaron Antrim wrote:

One frustration I have with the current frequencies.txt implementation that I'd like to share concerns routes where the buses run in a loop. Google Transit allows trips to be joined into blocks (where one a subsequent trip happens with the same vehicle), but a string of reoccuring trips described with a record in trips.txt and frequencies.txt, as far as I understand, cannot be defined as one single block. -aaron

I would think that frequencies.txt is really for routes with periods of high frequency (better than every 7.5 minutes or so) and clock headways. A route with this type of frequency typically does not interline, making block numbers irrelevant. In fact, they usually turn around and go the other way on the same route. The downfall to not being able to specify a block number in frequencies.txt is on a loop route, as you explained. The trip planner could tell the person to take the next bus, but not that the next bus is the same bus, so the "stay on bus" text wouldn't appear.