Interval Times

What are stop interval times?

The interval time between two bus stops refers to the amount of time it takes for a bus to travel from one stop to the next.

You can see the interval times in the stop sequence tab. In the example above, the interval time between the first and second stop is 42 seconds.

What are interval patterns?

Interval patterns are trips with the same stop sequence but different stop intervals.

Interval times can vary can vary depending on factors such as traffic conditions, distance between stops, and the schedule set by the transportation authority or bus company.

For example, a bus trip from A to B can take 5 minutes when there is lots of traffic and only 3 minutes when there is no traffic. We have different trip patterns, that reflect this.

You can see trip patterns in the Stop sequence tab, each is a different color block. If you hover over a trip pattern, you can see its calendar (i.e. the departure times for that trip pattern).

In the screenshot above, you can see that this trip pattern (green block) is active for trips that depart on Sunday at 09:10

Now, we will see how to check and compare the intervals for each departure time.

1. Enter the 'Stop sequence' tab
2. Select the relevant trip interval patterns that it is most similar to the details on the agency information
   *If there isn't one like that -> create a new one
3. Compare the interval time with the one from the agency and update if needed.

Note: In the picture below, we compare the intervals for the 10:40 departure Sun-Sat to the intervals for 10:40 departure Mon-Fri. (We start with Mon - Fri; sometimes the intervals on Sat-Sun are the same, but we will check it later.)

Now, let’s see a special case and how to check.

Special case: Interval time

Sometimes, there are different interval times on different days at the same hour. You need to check all of them on the agency's website.

left: Mon-Fri; right: Sat-Sun

In the previous section, we just edited the stop intervals for the 10:40 departure. We can see that there is a different interval on Sat-Sun (right image).

So, how do we separate the schedule to different interval patterns?

We need to:

1. Add the departure to a relevant interval pattern.
In this situation, we have an interval pattern for every day at 10:40 am. We need to keep the schedule for Monday - Friday, and create a new interval pattern for the departure of Saturday - Sunday.

2. Remove the 10:40 am depature from the weekday calendar.

Who can do that type of moderations?

Any user with level 3 or above level 3

How to add a new interval pattern:

As we learned, each interval time has it's own color and different stop intervals.
When editing the interval patterns, you need to remember two things:

1. The color of the relevant interval pattern
2. The arrival time of the last station

Those two things above will help you later to choose the right one.

Now, let’s see how to add a new interval pattern:

1.  Enter the 'Stop sequence' tab
2.  Click '+Add'
3.  Go to the “Departure Times” tab
4. Add a departure time to the relevant calendar.
   (in this situation we need one for Monday - Friday and another for Saturday - Sunday)

5. Add this departure to the correct interval pattern by hovering your mouse on the color next to the departure time -> selecting the color of the interval pattern.
6.  Press "OK"
7. In the end, press “Save”.

Now you can see on the “stop sequence” tab that a new schedule has been added to the original interval patterns (the pink one) and to the new one (the light blue).

You can also see that the 10:40 departure on the everyday calendar is still in the trip pattern - we need to remove it!

How to remove a trip interval patterns:

1. From the ‘Departure time’ tab, click “add departure times”
   
   
2. Remove the departure time from the relevant calendar. (In this situation, it is an everyday calendar)

Now you can see the separated interval patterns with the right calendars.