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Routing Modes

Routing modes

The routing request parameter modes determines which transport modalities should be considered when calculating the list of routes.

Some modes (mostly bicycle and car) also have optional qualifiers RENT and PARK to specify if vehicles are to be parked at a station or rented. In theory this can also apply to other modes but makes sense only in select cases which are listed below.

Whether a transport mode is available highly depends on the input feeds (GTFS, OSM, bike sharing feeds) and the graph building options supplied to OTP.

The complete list of modes are:

  • WALK: Walking some or all of the route.

  • TRANSIT: General catch-all for all public transport modes.

  • BICYCLE: Cycling for the entirety of the route or taking a bicycle onto the public transport and cycling from the arrival station to the destination.

  • BICYCLE_RENT: Taking a rented, shared-mobility bike for part or the entirety of the route.

Prerequisite: Vehicle positions need to be added to OTP from dynamic data feeds.

For dynamic bike positions configure an input feed. See Configuring real-time updaters.

  • BICYCLE_PARK: Leaving the bicycle at the departure station and walking from the arrival station to the destination.

This mode needs to be combined with at least one transit mode (or TRANSIT) otherwise it behaves like an ordinary bicycle journey.

Prerequisite: Bicycle parking stations present in the OSM file and visible to OTP by enabling the property staticBikeParkAndRide during graph build.

  • CAR: Driving your own car the entirety of the route.

If this is combined with TRANSIT it will return routes with a Kiss & Ride component. This means that the car is not parked in a permanent parking area but rather the passenger is dropped off (for example, at an airport) and the driver continues driving the car away from the drop off location.

  • CAR_PARK: Driving a car to the park-and-ride facilities near a station and taking public transport.

This mode needs to be combined with at least one transit mode (or TRANSIT) otherwise it behaves like an ordinary car journey.

Prerequisite: Park-and-ride areas near the station need to be present in the OSM input file.

The following modes are 1-to-1 mappings from the GTFS route_type:

  • TRAM: Tram, streetcar, or light rail. Used for any light rail or street-level system within a metropolitan area.

  • SUBWAY: Subway or metro. Used for any underground rail system within a metropolitan area.

  • RAIL: Used for intercity or long-distance travel.

  • BUS: Used for short- and long-distance bus routes.

  • FERRY: Ferry. Used for short- and long-distance boat service.

  • CABLE_CAR: Cable car. Used for street-level cable cars where the cable runs beneath the car.

  • GONDOLA: Gondola or suspended cable car. Typically used for aerial cable cars where the car is suspended from the cable.

  • FUNICULAR: Funicular. Used for any rail system that moves on steep inclines with a cable traction system.

Lastly, this mode is part of the Extended GTFS route types:

  • AIRPLANE: Taking an airplane.

Note that there are conceptual overlaps between TRAM, SUBWAY and RAIL and some transport providers categorize their routes differently to others. In other words, what is considered a SUBWAY in one city might be of type RAIL in another. Study your input GTFS feed carefully to find out the appropriate mapping in your region.