You already have the "who" (Agency), the "where" (Stops), and the "how" (Shapes). Now, we need the "when." Defining departure times is the final step to ensuring passengers know exactly when to leave home so they don't miss their ride. ⏱️🚶♂️
Once you have defined your routes and calendars, the final step is to set the clock. Whether you are building a schedule from scratch or refining an existing one, the Departure Times tab is where you control your transit rhythm.
But, before adding the departure times, let's have in mind that you must first create the necessary calendars in the editor. The calendar serves as the fundamental structure for your schedules by grouping days that operate under the same departure patterns.
“Departure times” is the term we use to indicate the time a trip departs from a specific stop for a specific trip on a route. When you enter a trip and click the Departure times tab, you will see the times the trip leaves the first stop.
1. How to add a Departure time 📆⚠️
- To begin, go to the Departure Times tab and select "ADD DEPARTURE TIMES" .
- A new section will open on your screen:
- You should have already created the calendar mentioned previously. Now, select that calendar for which you would like to add departure times.
-
Choose the method for inputting the departure times depending on the schedule of the trip: If there is only 1 departure time choose to Add a single departure time.
Select the time format used in your country
Enter the departure times in the following format:
hour, hour : minute, minute (hh:mm)
Press Add - If the departures follow a clear set interval pattern, select Add multiple departure times.
Select the time format used in your country
Enter the first and final departure times of the trip
Press Add
- If you have a list of departure times to add, select Add a list of times.
Type or paste the departure times
Press Add
2. How to edit a departure time 📆⚠️
- To remove an outdated or incorrect departure time: go to the list of departure times in the center of the screen and select the checkbox of the departure time you wish to remove.
Click on "Remove Selected” and scroll down to see the buttons on the end of the page. Click “ok”.
3. Special Schedules & Calendar Exceptions 📆⚠️
There are situations where a line with a regular schedule needs to operate differently than usual. On such days, since the service won't follow its normal pattern, we must adjust the habitual schedule by creating a Calendar Exception.
A Calendar Exception is a feature used to identify days that deviate from a calendar's standard departure pattern.
To learn more about this topic, check out this article: 📅 Creating and Managing Calendars in the Moovit Editor