blockConfiguration Element
A <blockConfiguration/> captures a sequence of block trips active on a particular service date. Recall that a block is a sequence of linked trips operated by the same vehicle. Unfortunately, that set of trips is not always the same. For example, the last trip of a block may typically be active, but might be left of during a holiday.
To help model these situations correctly, we have the concept of a block configuration: a sequence of block trips that are active for a particular block on a particular service date. The active service date is determined by the combination of active and inactive service ids on that date. See the <trip/> element and the GTFS spec for more discussion of service ids and how they determine when a trip is active.
In addition to service id information, the block configuration contains the list of active block trips.
Example
<blockConfiguration>
<activeServiceIds>
<string>1_116-WEEK</string>
</activeServiceIds>
<inactiveServiceIds/>
<trips>
<blockTrip>
<tripId>1_15415757</tripId>
<blockStopTimes>
<blockStopTime>
<blockSequence>0</blockSequence>
<distanceAlongBlock>45.79241448571604</distanceAlongBlock>
<accumulatedSlackTime>0.0</accumulatedSlackTime>
<stopTime>
<stopId>1_75995</stopId>
<arrivalTime>21607</arrivalTime>
<departureTime>21607</departureTime>
<pickupType>0</pickupType>
<dropOffType>0</dropOffType>
</stopTime>
</blockStopTime>
<blockStopTime>...</blockStopTime>
...
</blockStopTimes>
<accumulatedSlackTime>0</accumulatedSlackTime>
<distanceAlongBlock>0.0</distanceAlongBlock>
</blockTrip>
</trips>
</blockConfiguration>
Details
The <blockConfiguration/> element has the following sub-elements:
- activeServiceIds - a collection of strings indicating which service ids are active for the block configuration
- inactiveServiceIds - a collection of strings indicating which service ids are NOT active for the block configuration
- trips - the sequence of
<blockTrip/>elements for each block trip in the configuration
The block trip has the following properties:
- tripId - id of the referenced
<trip/>element - block stop times - see below
- accumulated slack time - how much slack time from layovers has been accumulated from previous block trips in the block up to the start of this block
- distanceAlongBlock - how far along the block, in meters, is the start of this trip
Block stop times capture the individually scheduled stops along each trip. We provide the following fields:
- blockSequence - the index of the block stop time in the list of all scheduled stops for the block configuration
- distanceAlongBlock - how far along the block, in meters, this stop occurs
- accumulatedSlackTime - how much slack time from layovers has been accumulated previous along the block up until, but not including, this stop
- stopTime - reference to the general stop time for the trip - see below
A stop time is a more general notion of a scheduled stop along a trip: