Today’s scheduling systems provide you with the most efficient and economical service plan. But what if your CAD/AVL solution doesn’t support interlining?
Today’s modern scheduling systems work hard to provide you with the most efficient and economical service plan. Intelligent scheduling algorithms will often suggest the interlining of routes to leverage common transfer points, reduce transfers, manage layovers more resourcefully, and reduce cycle times. The results can be quite effective for your agency’s bottom line and can help increase rider satisfaction. But what happens if your CAD/AVL solution doesn’t support interlined routes? Quite simply, much of the “hands-free” automation benefiting your system users may be diminished.
A CAD/AVL system that doesn’t support interlining cannot properly sequence a block containing anything more than a single route going inbound and outbound. If there is a scheduled route change for the vehicle due to interlining, such a system cannot automatically adjust critical functionality. What operations does this affect and put at risk for human error?
A system that does not support interlining cannot automatically switch routes and, as such, won’t be able to report on-time performance and other monitored route status beyond the interlined point unless the vehicle route assignment is manually adjusted by either the driver or the dispatcher.
Similarly, automated announcements beyond the interlining point depend on proper route assignment. Without the system's ability to perform this switch automatically, your ADA-compliant announcements are reliant upon manual intervention by system users, introducing significant opportunities for human error.
A core advantage of an integrated CAD/AVL system is single source login and automated control of other onboard systems such as destination signs and fareboxes. A system that doesn't support interlining significantly diminishes this advantage, once again requiring manual intervention at each switchover point to indicate a route change.
The proper tracking of interlined route switches is required input to GTFS-RT to provide real-time updates. If the CAD/AVL system doesn’t automatically support interlining, manual route switching is required to continue to provide accurate real-time information.
Public transit is evolving. We see changes in ridership patterns, new service offerings like flex routing, and the emergence of electric vehicles. Interlining is often a key component of efficient scheduling techniques to address such changes. Even if you’ve never used interlining, the future may dictate that you’ll need to start.
Don’t find yourself with a CAD/AVL system that diminishes the reliable, automated functionality expected from a modern solution.
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