Lines

Through the views in this section, we can organize the routes.

Lines and Routes

In this view, we can see all the lines and routes created, as well as add new lines and routes.

Create Lines

To add a new route, follow these steps:

• Click the New Line button in the top right corner.
• Fill out the form (fields with an asterisk are required). In the Name field, it's recommended to write a short name (e.g., L1, F2, 145, etc.). For the full name, use the Description field.
• You can also set parameters such as Vehicle Type, Line Code, URL, and Color.
• Click Save Line to save.

Edit/Delete Lines

To edit or delete a line, follow these steps:

• Go to the Lines tab, and in the actions of the line, click the Edit icon to access the Edit Line view.
• Edit the information and click Save Line to save.
• You can also click Delete Line to delete it.

Create Routes

Routes are created within each line, following the steps below:

• Click the Line in which you want to add a route to expand it.
• Click New Route inside the dropdown.
• Fill out the options form:
  • Code, Name, Description, and Route Address.
  • Active Route: Defines whether the route will appear as active when created.
  • Route in Google (GTFS): Defines whether it will be added to the agency's static GTFS when shared with Google.
  • Route in the App: Defines whether it will appear in the mobile app (only if this service has been contracted).
  • Anti-grouping: Adds a view on the driver's tablet to let them know how far ahead or behind they are from the vehicles ahead and behind.
  • Keep the counter at the end: Defines if the passenger counter does not reset at the end of the route for routes that allow passengers to remain on the bus.

Add Stops to the Route

Once we have filled in the text fields of the Route, we can start adding Stops on the same page. Just below the form, on the left, we will see a list of stops that we have previously created in the Stops section (see Create Stops).

The list of stops for the route (with the text Double-click or drag the Stop to add it) will be empty. This space will show the stops that are added to the Route.

We can add stops in any of the following ways:

• Double-clicking the stop in the list on the left.
• Dragging stops (drag&drop) from the list on the left to the list in the middle.
• Selecting it on the map and clicking the Add Stop button.

For each stop added to the list, we can also check the Ref box to define it as a reference stop for the line.

If we want to change the order of the stops, we can move or place a stop in any position in the list by dragging it (drag & drop) to the desired position. We can also delete a stop by clicking on it and pressing the icon in the stop list or clicking the Delete Stop button that appears when clicking on the stop in the map.

Modify the Route's Path

By default, the path is automatically created by Google Directions, but we can modify it ourselves in two ways:

• The first option is by clicking on the segment we want to modify and selecting the Change Path option from the dropdown. After selecting this option, we can click on the streets where we want the modified path to pass. Meanwhile, a window will appear on the right side with two buttons:
  • Save Saves the new path.
  • Cancel Cancels all changes and closes the path editor.
• The other option is by clicking on the segment we want to modify and selecting the Edit Points option. In this case, we will see the WayPoints marked with a pin and number:
  • By dragging each one, we can modify the Route.
  • By clicking on a WayPoint, we can Add a point after or Delete point.
  • In the lower right corner, an options window will also appear with the following buttons:
    • Save Saves all the WayPoints.
    • Clear Points Removes redundant or duplicate WayPoints.
    • Delete Points Deletes all WayPoints except the first and last, so we can start configuring the route from scratch.
    • Cancel Cancels all changes and closes the WayPoints editor.

Edit/Delete Routes

In the Lines and Routes view, we expand the Line that contains the Route we want to delete or modify. In the actions of the Route, click the pencil icon to access the Edit Route view.

In this view, we can edit the Route's information or click the Delete Route button in the lower left corner to delete it.

To edit or delete a route, follow these steps:

Route Timetables

The Route Timetables define when the bus arrives at a stop and when it departs from the stop. This is what we will call a Trip. Trips will help us create Shifts, to which we will later add a Calendar to assign a bus and a driver to each shift in the Scheduling tab.

In the Lines and Routes view, we expand the Line that contains the Route for which we want to add or edit the Timetables. In the actions of the Route, click the clock icon to access the Timetables view.

Add Schedules to the Route

To add Schedules to the route, follow these steps in the Schedules view:

• In this view, click on the button. The Create Trip controller will appear.
• To assign Schedules to a Stop, you can do it in two ways: manual or automatic:
  • Manual:
    • Write the arrival time and departure time for each Stop.
    • In the Calendar icon , select the calendar (previously created) to which this Schedule applies.
    • Click the save button .
    • Assign a code and destination for the trip and accept Create Trip.
    • Repeat the process and create as many trips as needed by clicking the button.
  • Automatic (this mode is more effective if we have many trips in a Route):
    • Write the arrival time and departure time in the Reference Stops (or Stations). By default, the first and last Stops are considered Reference Stops. We can choose more Reference Stops by checking the box on the left of each Stop.
    • Once the times for the Reference Stops are set, click the calculator icon next to the save button . This button will fill in all the empty times using an average calculation.
    • The arrows indicate whether the Stop allows boarding and/or alighting passengers, or neither. We call ghost stops those where neither boarding nor alighting is allowed. These stops will not appear on onboard displays.
    • In the calendar icon , select the Calendar (previously created) to which this Schedule applies.
    • Click the save button .
    • Assign a code and destination for the trip and accept Create Trip.
    • To create more trips automatically, open the trip by clicking on any of the times.
      • Click on the three dots button at the top right and select Copy Trip.
      • In the Copy Trip window, write the frequency at which the trip will repeat (every 10 minutes, for example), and select the start and end times.
      • Click on Create x trips to accept.

Each time you modify something manually in the trip (the name, calendar...), you need to click the save button for that trip.

Recalculate Trip

You can modify any schedule and click recalculate trip to have all schedules recalculated automatically.

Copy Boarding/Alighting

This option allows you to copy the boarding and alighting data from this trip to all others.

Filter View

The route's schedule screen displays a lot of data at once. To find and display a limited number of records, we use the filter bar at the bottom of the screen.

The filtering options are:

• By default, from 00:00 to 23:59: all trips between those two times will be shown. If we modify the hours, the list will be reduced to show only trips between those hours. We can also filter by Calendars.
• Filter by Reference Stops: Above the list of Stops, we have the Reference Stops selector. By clicking the arrow, we can select and view only the Reference Stops.

Other Options

In the bottom right corner, we find the Options menu. Here we can modify all the trips currently displayed on the screen at once (if they are filtered, with the filters mentioned earlier, only the visible ones will be modified).

• Change Calendars: In this window, we can replace, add, or remove calendars from the trips.
• Recalculate All Trips: If some times have been manually adjusted, this button will recalculate the times automatically or fill in the empty times.
• Change All Destinations: You can change the name of all destinations at once.
• Change All Codes: You can change all the Codes at once.
• Get Historical Stop Times: This tool allows us to get the average times of previous trips that are in the historical data. The tool performs the calculations based on data obtained from previous real trips. We can configure this filter with the following options in the contextual window:
  • Select a Calendar: Select the calendar from which we want to obtain data.
  • Omit Outlier Data: This option excludes data that is far outside the parameters we want to set. For example, it omits data from vehicles that have been ahead by more than 5 minutes or delayed by more than 10 minutes.
  • Add Maximum Trip Duration: To avoid a longer duration than desired, we can set a maximum trip duration.
  • Add Start and End Dates: This option allows us to choose only the data between these dates.
  • Click on Get times to see the results.
• Import / Export Data: With these options, we can Import and Export data from the selected routes.
• Delete All trips This button will delete all the displayed trips.

Events and Detours

In this screen, we can create Events and Detours that temporarily modify the route of a Line. To do this, we create the Event or Detour by adding all affected Routes, regardless of the Line they belong to.

Detours are variations of a route that we can save for later use. On the other hand, Events are uses of a detour for a specific period of time.

Create Detours

Detours are found within the Lines and Detours subsection, under the Lines section. They allow us to temporarily change a route and then return to its original state. We can configure a detour by following these steps:

• Click on New Detour while in the Detours tab of the Events and Detours view.
• Define the name and description of the Event.
• Add all applicable Routes by clicking the button next to each Route.
• Once the Routes are selected, the control panel will open to edit and modify the Routes. Modify the routes one by one as if they were normal routes (see the section Modify the route of a route). A modal window will appear with the message "Congratulations! The detour has been created".
• Press Next to add more Routes or Exit to finish the process of Adding Routes to the Detour. We can add Routes later as long as no Event has been applied yet.
• In the general view of Detours, we can edit the name of the Detour, see if it has events applied, or add Routes.

Create Events

Events are found within the Lines and Detours subsection, under the Lines section. An Event is used to configure a detour that will take place during a specific period of time. We can create an event by following these steps:

• Click on New Event while in the Events tab of the Events and Detours view.
• Define the name and description of the Event.
• Select the Detour that will apply during the Event we are configuring.
• Select the Duration of the Event and click Save .

Configure Trips

It is necessary to configure the trips for each Route of the Detour, and we can do so from the general view of Events, by following these steps:

• Click on Configure Trips next to each Route in the Event.
• Select the Calendar in which it applies in the trips column.
• You can also modify the schedules if needed.
• Click on Save Line to save.
• Repeat for each of the Lines.

Plan Events

We must configure the time interval during which the event will be activated, by following these steps:

• Click on the calendar icon inside the Event.
• Set the dates and intervals for when the Event will take place.
• Click on the save icon next to each new interval.

In the general view, we will see whether it is planned and if it is active, meaning it is happening in real-time.

Create Alerts

An Alert is a notice for the users of the transport system. Once the Event is planned, we can configure an alert by clicking on the megaphone icon that will appear in the Detour actions within the Event:

• Click on the megaphone icon .
• We will have three options to configure, depending on where we want the Alert to be played:
  • Google: We need to specify the Title and Message of the Alert in each selected language. We can also provide a URL for more information.
  • Bus Screens: We need to specify the Title, the Alert Message in each selected language, and assign a Playback Time. We can also provide a URL for more information.
  • Bus Speakers: We need to specify the Title, the Message, and the Voice of the Alert in each selected language, and assign a Playback Time or specify every how many Stops it repeats. We can also provide a URL for more information.
• Click on to save.

Event Visualization on the Map

It is displayed when a Detour is happening in real-time and is visualized on the map as a dashed line.

Routes Without Line

They work exactly like routes with a line, but without being part of a Line. They can be created by following these steps:

• Click on New Route .
• A dialog window will open to edit and modify Routes. We create a new Route as if it were a normal route (see the section Edit/Delete routes).
• Click on Save route to save the route.

Line Axes

Axes are routes covered by two or more Routes in the same direction. The importance of Axes lies in the frequency with which vehicles pass. Axes can be controlled in real-time from the Line Scheme.

New axes can be created by following these steps:

• In the Line Axes section, click on New Axis .
• A window will open where we add an origin and a destination stop. Once the two are selected, the Lines and Routes dropdown will appear. From this dropdown, select the Routes to include in the Axis, and they will be added to the right list of Selected Routes.
• Click on Save .