Error: the arrival time equals departure time for majority of bus line data

Request for data
1

Hi all,
I am working with bus stop_time data for bus control study, find that the departure time and arrival time are same, which is not that correct so I am wondering the reason.
I have download few database formhttp://transitfeeds.com/p/transport-for-nsw/237/latest and Timetables Complete GTFS but they all have the SAME problem.
Many many Thanks!
Dong

2

What makes you think it’s ‘not correct’ ?

From the specifications:

If you don’t have separate times for arrival and departure at a stop, enter the same value for arrival_time and departure_time.

1 Like
3

Hi dcooley,
Thank you for the replying.
My apology by mention ‘not that correct’, which seems very rude indeed, but there must be a part that I missed because the arrival time and departure time should be different for a bus. As for a bus, the time between arrival time and departure time should be called dwelling time, which is the time for passenger boarding and alighting, though there maybe a stop skipping, but it is odd if all the arrival time and departure time are same…

The thing is that the data for trains looks understandable, they all have different time for arrival and departure, as shown in the pictures below.

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Thank you very much
Dong

4

Don’t worry about being ‘rude’, I certainly didn’t think it was :slight_smile:

I agree with you that it makes more sense for the arrival_time and departure_times to be different, and in an ideal world they would be. I was just pointing out that, given the GTFS specification, they don’t have to be.

5

This is just an observation but these are timetables.
Buses don’t tend to stop at a stop unless there is someone indicating they want to to alight or board the bus. Hence the arrival and departure time is the ‘same’.

6

Hi dcooley,
Thanks so much:)
You are right, but the thing is, after my brief analysis to the real-time data, there is still no dwelling time for buses, which seems a bit unusual because the arrival time and departure time for the train are different…
Enjoy the holiday and many many thanks.
Dong

7

Hi Yvonne,
Thanks for the replying.
As far as I know, the timetable should also include dwelling time as shown for a train or light rail.
It is true that bus can skip stops according to the requirement of the passengers, but it maybe not that correct if nearly all(except the data for bus route 400) the arrival time and departure time are same only for bus service’s data means nearly all (except the data for bus route 400) bus travel without stop and serving.
Best
Dong