THE TIMED TRANSFER FOCAL POINT: A REFINEMENT IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICE DESIGN

This paper describes the network design technique called the "timed transfer focal point" approach. This design method is employed to provide region-wide travel in low density suburban areas which have insufficient demand levels to support an untimed grid of routes. Some recent research into factors influencing consumers' decisions to use a transit service have identified the ability to make trips to a wide variety of destinations within the metropolitan area as a prime consideration. Transit planners can implement three kinds of service feature that cater to this desire: (a) a "crosstown" route; (b) the use of a grid layout of transit routes rather than a radial network; and (c) more recently the "timed transfer focal point" approach, which has been used in three Canadian cities with success. There are two essential elements in a "timed transfer focal point" network: (a) the layout of transit lines such that they focus on community centres or some other geographically significant point; and (b) the arrangement of timed intervals on a route such that buses, streetcars, or other transport arriving at any given focal point do so at the same time, facilitating transfer movements. A transit system laid out in this fashion enables the person to travel in a reasonably direct manner from and to any place in the metropolitan area. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Bureau of Transit Services

  Department of Municipal Affairs
  Vancouver, BC  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Sullivan, B E
• Publication Date: 1976-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 22 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Itinerary; Level of service; Metropolitan areas; Public transit; Suburbs; Timetables; Traffic delays; Transfers; Transportation planning; Urban areas; Waiting time
• Uncontrolled Terms: Decreases
• ITRD Terms: 9009: Decrease; 9010: Delay; 653: Level of service; 744: Public transport; 304: Suburbs; 1186: Timetable; 313: Urban area; 9100: Waiting time
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00174165
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 28 1981 12:00AM