This analysis did not identify any major issues that will result in significantly inaccurate representations of transit service in the region. The analysis did uncover flag some low to medium level issues that should be considered and/or addressed before GTFS feeds are used to inform planning analyses. These findings, which are documented in the various analysis pages accessible in the menu, are reviewed below.
GTFS feeds typically contain service patterns, which represent different levels of service. For example, service patterns can be used to represent schedules on a weekday, Sunday, or a holiday. Service patterns are particularly important when an analysis is run for a specific day or weekday, the service patterns that are analyzed can impact the level of service on a given day.
Most feeds include service characteristics that vary based on the academic calendar. It is important to consider not only which day of the week should be represented, but also whether semester service should be included. Further investigation should also be given into whether service scheduled by the semester is available to the public, or only to a university population.
The following service IDs are recommended to be used to represent typical weekday service patterns during the typical academic calendar. The following IDs were selected in attempt to limit the representation of temporary detours, holiday service, overlapping service IDs, and staff-only service.
Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation Route 4 did not appear in the initial GTFS feed as part of this analysis, which was obtained in July 2020. Route 4, the Almance Burlingting Express, provides service from Chapel Hill to Greensboro, making intermediate stops. The PART website as of July 29, 2020, notes that “Effective March 25, 2020: This route has been suspended until Monday, August 3rd.” Service typically operates Monday through Friday, with eight departures per day. This service should be included in any analysis. After the initial analysis was run, a subsequent feed was released when service resumed. The August 2020 feed was obtained and used for subsequent development of the transit network.
This analysis computes the speed a transit vehicle would need to travel from each scheduled stop-to-stop pair in order to meet all scheduled segments. The purpose of this analysis is to identify scheduling issues that might lead to unreasonably fast or slow service. It is common for GTFS feeds to contain segments where service is scheduled at a very high or low rate. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including schedule padding. While the presence of high or low speed service is not necessarily a problem, the presence along long stretches of a corridor can indicate a scheduling issue. By reviewing the maps and tables in the speed analysis component of this report it is possible to investigate whether the fast and slow segments are problematic. After a review of this information as well as a comparison with published transit schedules, the following segments are notable for warranting potential correction.