| Term | Definition | Example | See Also |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | Automatic Fare Collection. Technology that allows for electronic fare payment and collection, such as "tap on" cards. | ||
| Agency | Public or non-profit entity responsible for transportation service provision and management. May or may not also be an Operator. | Operator | |
| Alight | Passenger getting off a vehicle. Opposite of Board. | Board | |
| Alignment | A series of segments between two Stops that indicate the path of travel a vehicle takes. Edited from the Stop Pattern. | Stop Pattern | |
| APC | Automatic Passenger Counting. Technology that allows for passenger counting and vehicle capacity information gathering. | ||
| AVL | Automatic Vehicle Location. Technology for locating vehicles and broadcasting or recording their locations. Usually involves on-board GPS and some sort of communications equipment to send vehicle locations back to a central system. The information is used to track on-time performance of vehicles and their operators and for predicted arrival systems. | Realtime | |
| Block | A way of facilitating in-seat transfers between routes or trips, as well as capturing vehicle behavior for use in AVL and realtime systems, assigned to Trips. | Trip | |
| Board | Passenger getting on a vehicle. Opposite of Alight. | Alight | |
| Calendar | Grouping of Trips based on Service Period. | Trip, Service Period | |
| Calendar Exception | A single-day exception to regularly scheduled service, typically a holiday or other service augmentation. | On Labor Day, scheduled service matches Saturday Service Days | Calendar, Service Day |
| Deviated Fixed-Route | A Fixed-Route that allows for deviation from the defined Alignments and Stops, usually in a defined increment such as 1/4 mile from the Fixed Route. | Fixed-Route | |
| Direction | Internal-facing way of sorting Stop Patterns and Trips based on pairs of alternating Directions. | Inbound/Outbound, Eastbound/Westbound | Stop Pattern, Trip |
| Dwell | Time a vehicle spends stationary at a Stop. Often described in terms of "arrival" and "departure" Stop Times | Stop Time | |
| Exception-Only Calendar | A Calendar that is only used in a Calendar Exception. | Reduced holiday service | Calendar, Calendar Exception |
| GTFS+ | An expanded GTFS Feed that includes features like Rider Categories | ||
| Fare | Record that captures the cost for a Trip based on Fare Rules | $2.00 base fare for a Trip on the Green Route with one free transfer | Fare Rules |
| Fare Rule | A definition of Route and/or Stop Zone (Fare Zone) as applied to a Fare. | All Trips on the Green Route apply to the $2.00 Fare. | Fare, Fare Zone |
| Fare Zone | A Stop Zone applied with a Fare Rule to define when a Fare should be applied to a Trip. | Fare | |
| Feed | Complete GTFS, produced as a collection of text files that are readable by apps. | ||
| Feed Export | The export of data from GTFS Manager, generating the Feed. | Feed | |
| Feed Validation | The process of ensuring a GTFS meets minimum necessary standards for use in third party apps. | Feed | |
| Filter | Most dashboards in GTFS Manager allow filtering of records to make it easier to sort through data. | ||
| Fixed-Route | A Route that has defined Stop Pattern(s) and Timed Pattern(s). Most Routes are fixed with consistent Schedules. | Schedule | |
| Flag Stop |
A Stop that is only available through communication with a driver or agency. Determined by values in Timed Patterns. Signed Stop: The Stop is designated by signage. On-Demand Stop: The Stop is only available by communicating with the driver or by calling the agency. |
Stop, Timed Pattern | |
| Frequency | A recurring Headway for a Trip, either as a Repeated Trip, or a special entry in frequencies.txt | Trip | |
| Headsign | A descriptive value assigned to Stop Patterns and/or Timed Patterns to provide riders additional information about the direction of travel or destination | Trips on the Green Route inbound display "Downtown" as the Headsign. | Stop Pattern, Timed Pattern |
| Headway | The amount of time between start times for a Repeated Trip. | Frequency | |
| Interlining | When a bus services more than one Route, such as alternating between two Routes or continuing on to another Route. Blocks help riders know they can ride a vehicle from one Route onto another (if allowed.) | Block | |
| Interpolated Time | Estimated arrival times inserted after Feed Export between Timepoints in Timed Pattern | Feed Export, Timed Pattern | |
| Loop Route | Loop Routes begin and end at the same Stop and have a few other unique attributes and requirements. | Downtown Circulator that runs clockwise | |
| Manifest | Used in Paratransit to lay out all the passengers that need to be transported and Trips to be made. In rural fixed-route systems, manifests are often used to let drivers know about any customers that will be at On-Demand Stops. | ||
| Operator (Transit Service Provider) | Contractor or internally run transit service provider responsible for operations, and sometimes service planning, marketing, and customer information. | Agency | |
| Paddle / Paddle Sheet | The schedule for each bus showing all trips in a day, including arrival and departure times. Useful for showing Interlining. | Block, Interlining | |
| Paratransit | On-Demand or Deviated Fixed-Route service primarily servicing the elderly and disabled. Often combined with ADA and/or Dial-a-Ride services. | Deviated Fixed-Route | |
| Pass Through Zone | A modifier to a Fare Rule that allows for an override of another Fare Rule when Fare Zones are used and a transfer between two Routes must occur in a third zone. | Fare Rule, Fare Zone | |
| Pattern | A Pattern refers to Stop Patterns and Timed Patterns, the organizing principles behind scheduled Trips. | Stop Pattern, Timed Pattern | |
| Realtime | Arrival and bus location information displayed in real-time. Usually available with AVL technology. | AVL | |
| Rider Category | A feature of GTFS+ that allows for Fare differentiation between different rider populations | General Fare is $2.00, but only $1.00 for Seniors, Youth, and the Disabled. | Fare, GTFS+ |
| Ridership | Assessed, regular figure of daily, monthly, or yearly passenger counts and/or Trips. | APC | |
| Route | A Route is a group of Trips that are displayed to riders as a single service. | The Green Route runs along MLK Jr. Blvd between Downtown and the East Transit Center. | Trip |
| Schedule | All Trips affiliated with a single Route. Most frequently referred to as a timetable. | All scheduled runs on the Green Route, broken up into Weekday and Weekend | Calendar, Trip, Route |
| Service Day | A group of days on which a Trip recurs on a weekly basis, usually Mon-Fri. GTFS cannot account for day groupings less frequent than weekly. See Semi-Monthly Trips to learn about alternatives. | 9:00 am scheduled outbound run on the Green Route runs M,Tu,W,Th,F | Trip, Route, Calendar |
| Service Period | A start and end date for a Calendar. A Calendar may have multiple Service Periods. | The Summer Calendar starts on May 28, 2018 and ends on September 3, 2018 | Calendar |
| Station | A subtype of Stop, Stations do act as a "parent" to "child" Stops so that multiple Stops can be associated with the same location, such as a train station with multiple platforms or large bus depot with multiple bays. | Downtown Transit Center ("Parent"), Bay 1 ("Child"), Bay 2 ("Child"), etc | Stop |
| Stop |
A transit Stop servicing one or more Stop Patterns in a Route. Nearside (NS): The Stop is lovcated before an intersection. Farside (FS): The Stop is located after an intersection. Midblock (MB) / Inbetween (IB): The Stop is located away from an intersection and referred to by block address or streets before and after the Stop. Paired Stops: Stops that are across the street from one another, usually with the same Stop name. |
1st St & C Ave | Stop Pattern |
| Stop Pattern | A precise order of Stops for a Trip in a Schedule. Can include flag Stops and Stops that are pickup or drop off only when defined in Timed Pattern. | Green Route outbound AM | |
| Stop Time | Arrival time at a Stop as described in Timed Pattern. Departure time is optional. Allows for Dwell Time to be accounted for. | ||
| Stop Zone | A collection of Stops that are grouped together in a Zone for use in Fare Zones. | Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 | |
| Timed Pattern | A precise set of timed intervals between Stops in a Stop Pattern. Each variation in timing requires its own Timed Pattern, and a Stop Pattern can have multiple Timed Patterns. | 9:00 am outbound run on the Green Route is 45 minutes, 10:30 am outbound run on the Green Route is 40 minutes | |
| Timeline View | A view in Schedules that shows Trips as a visual schematic that can be arranged by Patterns, start times, or Blocks. | ||
| Timepoint | In GTFS, Timepoint refers to a specific field on Timed Patterns that defines when an arrival time should be classified as a Timepoint. It does not refer to all stops with arrival times. | ||
| Timetable View | A view in Schedules that shows Trips as a grid. | ||
| Transfer | Transfers allow definition of a Stop or pair of Stops as a transfer point between Routes. | 1st St & C Ave is a "timed transfer" between the Green and Yellow Routes | |
| Trip | A Trip is a sequence of two or more Stops that occurs at specific time on a single Route. These typically occur on a regular Frequency, usually daily and/or weekly. | 9:00 am scheduled outbound run on the Green Route |
Glossary and Transit Terms
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