Timing point

A timing point, time point or timepoint is a public transit stop that a vehicle tries to reach at a scheduled time.[1] A vehicle is not supposed to pass a timepoint until the schedule time has arrived. These stops are contrasted with all other stops on a scheduled route, for which the transit agency does not explicitly schedule an arrival/departure time. These other stops occur between timepoint stops, so their scheduled times are implicitly between those of the timepoints though not explicitly defined. At minimum, a timepoint allows regular passengers to estimate when a bus would get to a stop before or after a timepoint.

The creation of digital schedules, and real-time geo-located apps has somewhat complicated the situation for agencies operating with timepoints. These apps usually ingest General Transit Feed Specification data, a widely used schedule data format, which often included times for every single stop on a route. Agencies may interpolate between their timepoints, but this may not reflect a realistic expectation of when a vehicle should arrive, and the GTFS specification cautions against this practice.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Ceder, Avishai (2007). Public Transport Planning and Operation: Theory, Modelling and Practice (1 ed.). p. 88. ISBN 978-0-7506-6166-9.
  2. ↑ "General Transit Feed Specification Reference". Google Developers. Google. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
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