10-18-2016, 04:05 PM
(10-18-2016, 08:28 AM)kitborn Wrote:(10-17-2016, 11:13 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: It should get full priority, and the schedule should be planned to use the priority, with a reasonable buffer so that minor problems don’t immediately put the schedule off for the rest of the day. But yes, there should be a schedule and no transit vehicle should ever run “hot” (meaning, leaving a pickup point before the scheduled time).
What I would say is that the schedule should be as fast as possible, subject to being realistic in the face of reasonably foreseeable and reasonably common circumstances.
A early bus/train is no bus/train.
Perhaps I was unclear. The vehicles should follow the schedule, and the schedule should be designed to be as fast as possible subject to the reasonable constraints. But yes, if a particular vehicle happens to run fast over a segment of a route, it should wait at the next stop until it is no longer early, and this should happen often enough that a vehicle never runs noticeably early. Which pretty much means that vehicles should always run 0-1 minute late under ideal circumstances but never ever early.
Because you are absolutely right. Many transit “professionals” don’t seem to understand this. I’ve seen reference to “on-time” meaning plus or minus three minutes (on the TTC, in particular, although I’m sure there are other offenders), which is outrageous and no way to run a transit service.