Podaris features a powerful multi-modal routing engine, which includes end-to-end journeys, accounting for time spent waiting based on your services.
Waiting time is the duration between when a rider arrives at a stop or station, and the arrival of the desired service. Accounting for wait time is important for understanding the connectivity and accessibility of a network. A fast and infrequent service may not necessarily be better than a slower but more frequent alternative.
Our multi-modal routing engine accounts for all aspects of a rider's journey, walking from the origin, waiting for the service, making any unrestricted transfers, and then walking to their destination. There are two options for how the wait time can be calculated:
Average
This is the default recommended mode and calculates an average representation for the wait time based on the frequency of service. In most typical cases, this will result in the wait time being equivalent to half the headway, but in more complex cases, where there are a number of similar services running between two stops, different routes or patterns may be grouped together to reduce the average wait even further.
Timetable
Under the timetable mode, the wait time will be calculated directly from the service schedule. For example, if a rider arrives at a stop at 09:32 and the train departs at 09:40, they will have a wait time of 8 minutes.
When using timetable based routing, it can be difficult to ensure a fair analysis of a network, as starting your isochrone or routing request at the wrong time may see you miss the first service entirely.