Västtrafik pickup and dropoff types
We're consuming Västtrafik GTFS data through the GTFS Sweden 3 dataset. We've realized that most pickup_type and dropoff_type are set to 3 "Must coordinate with driver to arrange pickup."
I think I understand why this was used (e.g. you need to press the stop button on the bus for the driver to stop) but it is not the way this was intended to be either used or consumed in the specification.
pickup/dropoff_type=3 is intended for, for example, rural/semi-rural setups where explicit passenger/driver arrangements have to be made to serve a stop (e.g. the driver wouldn't be passing through those stops without that arrangement)
For urban settings, the accepted and widely-applied use is pickup/dropoff_type = 0
I think I understand why this was used (e.g. you need to press the stop button on the bus for the driver to stop) but it is not the way this was intended to be either used or consumed in the specification.
pickup/dropoff_type=3 is intended for, for example, rural/semi-rural setups where explicit passenger/driver arrangements have to be made to serve a stop (e.g. the driver wouldn't be passing through those stops without that arrangement)
For urban settings, the accepted and widely-applied use is pickup/dropoff_type = 0
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For "rural setups where explicit passenger/driver arrangements have to be made to serve a stop" these arrangements are defined through pickup_booking_rule_id/drop_off_booking_rule_id where pickup/dropoff type is 2 (must phone agency).
Pressing a button in the bus or at a bus stop or boat pier does the same as telling onboard personell on a ferry that you want to hop off at a stop which otherwise is skipped: it ensures the vehicle will halt at this stop. In certain cases the bus will not even drive past the stop if the button onboard or at the stop is not pressed. Busses may pass stops with waiting passengers if passengers don't signal that they want to take a specific buss. Hence, coordination with the driver is required.
Pickup/dropoff type 0 is for trips halt at the stop no matter if passengers take action or not, such as metro and train services. These calls are explicitly marked by Västtrafik etc and exported with pickup/dropoff type 0 in our GTFS datasets.
We cannot change our GTFS export based on an ambiguity in the specification, as our current implementation is correct according to the specification and the hundreds of existing consumers, including all major map services. In case you believe a specific trip, such as a train trip, has incorrect boarding restrictions, please provide an example so we can contact Västtrafik to correct this in the underlying data.
If you still believe this is incorrect, I invite you to open an issue in https://github.com/google/transit to ensure the specification cannot be interpreted the way we and other consumers + producers interpret it now. We would in that case need clear types for vehicles which always stop, which only stop if needed, and those where driver coordination is required since the spec needs to be backwards compatible and there are ferry cases where this is needed.
Regards,
Bert