How does vehicle assignment work?

What is vehicle assignment?

Vehicle assignment is the backbone of the Swiftly software and is used to describe how Swiftly can take vehicle locations from any AVL/GPS source and assign them to scheduled service on the GTFS.

When vehicles are assigned in Swiftly, they are associated with a route in your system. Once a vehicle is assigned, Swiftly will start creating real-time predictions and recording historical arrival and departures. The process of assigning vehicles to their routes in Swiftly can happen in a few different ways, and involves the use of GTFS block IDs, trip IDs, and routes.

AVL Assignment – Swiftly can receive assignment information when an agency sends their block ID (preferred), trip ID, or route ID along with vehicle GPS/AVL information. Swiftly will then assign each vehicle to the corresponding route and block, which is provided through the agency’s static GTFS. AVL assignment also includes agencies that utilize Swiftly's Onboard app.

Automatic Assignment – For agencies that are not able to send assignment information through their GPS/AVL feed, Swiftly can use automatic assignment. When "auto-assigner" is enabled, Swiftly will search for vehicles to automatically assign to routes at any time, based on their location and timing (more on that below). Auto-assigner is commonly used for agencies that have purchased Swiftly GPS trackers. 

AVL assignment details

Depending on what assignment information is passed on to Swiftly from the AVL feed, AVL assignment can happen in a few different ways. While comparing the AVL to the static GTFS, Swiftly will make assignments based on the following scenarios:

• Block ID is passed – Swiftly will check to see if the block ID passed from the AVL matches a block ID in the GTFS-static. 
  • If there is a match for the block ID from the AVL, the vehicle will be assigned to that block. 
• Trip ID is passed –Swiftly will check to see if the trip ID passed from the AVL matches a trip ID in the GTFS-static.
  • If there is a match, Swiftly will then find the block associated with that trip ID that was passed. Swiftly will assign the vehicle to the best-fit trip (based on vehicle location and timing) within that block. 
• Route ID is passed – Swiftly will check to see if the route ID passed from the AVL matches a route ID in the GTFS-static.
  • If there is a match, Swiftly will assign the vehicle to the best-fit trip and block (based on vehicle location and timing) within that route that was passed from the AVL. 
• In all cases, if there isn’t a match between the assignment information passed from the AVL and the GTFS-static, Swiftly will reject the assignment information. As a backup, Swiftly will then attempt to use automatic assignment to assign the vehicle. Automatic assignment is not enabled for all agencies – ask your Customer Success Manager if automatic assignment is enabled as a back-up to AVL assignment. 

Automatic Assignment

If your agency only provides GPS information without assignment information (block, trip, or route id), the vehicle’s GPS location will be passed to Swiftly, and the system will use automatic assignment to assign the vehicle. While comparing the spatial location, movement, and timing of the vehicle to the static GTFS, Swiftly can make assignments based on the following scenarios: 

• Based on where the vehicle is at that moment, Swiftly will check to see if there is a good match for an active block. If there is a match, then the vehicle will be assigned to the best-fit trip within that block.
• If the vehicle does not match to any active blocks (too early, too late, or too far away) the vehicle will be left unassigned. The vehicle location will continue to be recorded but will remain unassigned.
• If the unassigned vehicle is expected to service a trip, you can use the manual assignment tool to place the vehicle on the correct block.