Flexible transit routing

Contact Info

Kyyti Group Oy, Finland
Entur, Norway
Hannes Junnila

Documentation

To enable this turn on FlexRouting as a feature in otp-config.json.

The GTFS feeds must conform to the final, approved version of the draft which has been merged into the mainline specification in March 2024.

Experimental features

This sandbox feature also has experimental support for the following fields:

safe_duration_factor
safe_duration_offset

These features are currently undergoing specification and their definition might change. OTP's implementation will be also be changed so be careful when relying on this feature.

Configuration

This feature allows a limited number of config options. To change the configuration, add the following to router-config.json.

Example configuration

// router-config.json
{
  "flex" : {
    "maxTransferDuration" : "5m",
    "maxFlexTripDuration" : "45m",
    "maxAccessWalkDuration" : "15m",
    "maxEgressWalkDuration" : "15m"
  }
}

Overview

Config Parameter	Type	Summary	Req./Opt.	Default Value	Since
maxAccessWalkDuration	`duration`	The maximum duration the passenger will be allowed to walk to reach a flex stop or zone.	Optional	`"PT45M"`	2.3
maxEgressWalkDuration	`duration`	The maximum duration the passenger will be allowed to walk after leaving the flex vehicle at the final destination.	Optional	`"PT45M"`	2.3
maxFlexTripDuration	`duration`	How long can a non-scheduled flex trip at maximum be.	Optional	`"PT45M"`	2.3
maxTransferDuration	`duration`	How long should a passenger be allowed to walk after getting out of a flex vehicle and transferring to a flex or transit one.	Optional	`"PT5M"`	2.3

Details

maxAccessWalkDuration

Since version: 2.3 ∙ Type: duration ∙ Cardinality: Optional ∙ Default value: "PT45M"
Path: /flex

The maximum duration the passenger will be allowed to walk to reach a flex stop or zone.

If you have multiple overlapping flex zones the high default value can lead to performance problems. A lower value means faster routing.

Depending on your service this might be what you want to do anyway: many flex services are used by passengers with mobility problems so offering a long walk might be problematic. In other words, if you can walk 45 minutes to a flex stop/zone you're unlikely to be the target audience for those services.

maxEgressWalkDuration

Since version: 2.3 ∙ Type: duration ∙ Cardinality: Optional ∙ Default value: "PT45M"
Path: /flex

The maximum duration the passenger will be allowed to walk after leaving the flex vehicle at the final destination.

If you have multiple overlapping flex zones the high default value can lead to performance problems. A lower value means faster routing.

Depending on your service this might be what you want to do anyway: many flex services are used by passengers with mobility problems so offering a long walk might be problematic. In other words, if you can walk 45 minutes to a flex stop/zone you're unlikely to be the target audience for those services.

maxFlexTripDuration

Since version: 2.3 ∙ Type: duration ∙ Cardinality: Optional ∙ Default value: "PT45M"
Path: /flex

How long can a non-scheduled flex trip at maximum be.

This is used for all trips which are of type UnscheduledTrip. The value includes the access/egress duration to the boarding/alighting of the flex trip, as well as the connection to the transit stop.

maxTransferDuration

Since version: 2.3 ∙ Type: duration ∙ Cardinality: Optional ∙ Default value: "PT5M"
Path: /flex

How long should a passenger be allowed to walk after getting out of a flex vehicle and transferring to a flex or transit one.

This was mainly introduced to improve performance which is also the reason for not using the existing value with the same name: fixed schedule transfers are computed during the graph build but flex ones are calculated at request time and are more sensitive to slowdown.

A lower value means that the routing is faster.

Changelog

OTP 2.1

Initial implementation of Flexible transit routing
Use one-to-many search in order to make the performance of the StreetFlexPathCalculator acceptable. (April 2021)
Also link transit stops used by flex trips to the closest car traversable edge. This allows flex street routing all the way to the stop. (April 2021)
Fix performance issues with the StreetFlexPathCalculator #3460
Improve performance of flex access/egress routing #3661
Allow getting on and off at the same flex stop time #3720
Calculate fare for flex routes #3743

OTP 2.3

Enable configuration of maxFlexTripDuration and change of type of maxTransferDuration routes #4642