Detours are a major part of running transit service. Unfortunately, detours also present a huge operational challenge for public transit agencies. For instance, in urban areas where construction is frequent and abundant, being able to accurately communicate detour information in a timely fashion to riders is critical. With Service Adjustments, you’re able to create a detour on a one or multiple routes that share a corridor and ensure this information is communicated to everyone who needs to know. If your agency is subscribed to Rider Alerts, you can also inform riders and staff with additional information about the detour, such as alternate stops to board, through your passenger-facing tools. Swiftly will automatically integrate Detour information into our operator-facing Onboard App, removing much of the guesswork that operators face out when detours are in place.
NEW! Multi-Route Detours:
Video Overview of Detours:
Detour Walk Through:
Step 1: Within the Live Operations product, click on the “Adjustments" tab. Once in the “Adjustments” tab, click the “New Adjustment” button and choose “Add Detour”.
Step 2: A new tab will appear. Use the Affected Route(s) multi-selection list to choose the route or routes to which the detour should be applied.
Step 3: Once you have chosen the affected route(s), you will need to draw out the detour on the map. Creating a detour for both directions is not necessary and you’re able to choose whichever path will be affected. However, for this example, we will create a detour for both directions. You’ll start with "Direction A", the direction of the path will be indicated by arrows along the route.
Zoom into the section of the route that’s being impacted and start drawing the detour by clicking on the purple route path where the detour starts. Click on the map along the path that the bus will be driving while on a detour. When you are finished drawing out the detour path make sure to double click the end of the drawing in order to solidify the detour path. Once you’ve drawn the detour out for the first direction, it will close any stops that are affected.
If you've selected multiple routes for this detour, you'll see messaging within the left-side panel about which route(s) are affected by the detour and which ones are not:
Step 4: Add temporary stops that will be used for this detour. After adding a detour, click the “Add Stops” button to add temporary stops. Black circles will appear along the detour route to indicate existing stop infrastructure that can be utilized for a detour. To create a brand new stop, simply click a point along the route and add a name for the custom stop. Click an enabled stop to remove it from a detour.
Step 5: Click on the "Direction B" option in order to draw out the detour for the other direction along the affected route. You will see a grey highlighted line indicating the detour outline for the first direction.
If you find that you have made a mistake while drawing the detour you can click the "Clear” button on the top of the screen. This will reset your drawing allowing you to redraw the detour path.
Step 6: After drawing the paths for the route’s two directions, you will indicate a start time and an end time (if applicable) for this detour. If you are unsure of the end time, you can check the “Don’t know yet” box and it will be an indefinite detour until the adjustment is deleted. This is also where you can set the recurrence rules for a detour and denote which dates and times it is in effect.
Step 7: Select a reason for the detour and write a comment in the optional notes section. Once you select a reason from the drop-down, click submit.
Step 8: Once you submit, you’re immediately brought back to the Adjustments tab. Recurring detours are denoted in the action log by the ↩️ icon.
If you find that you made a mistake when creating the detour or you need to edit the end date, you can edit the service adjustment. Click on the Adjustments tab, find the adjustment you created. On the right of your adjustment, you will see an edit link, when you click on the edit link it will take you back to the detour tab and you’re able to make the edits. Once your edits are complete, click the submit button.
What the detour looks like in the Live Operations Map
In the Swiftly Dashboard, the Live Operations Map will show you the detour along with the closed stops.
When you click on a closed stop, the stop panel will appear along with a notification informing you that it’s being impacted by a detour. When you click on this "! Detour" notice badge, you’re able to see all active and upcoming adjustments impacting the stop. If the adjustment is currently in effect, the adjustments details will be in the "Active" tab. Adjustments scheduled into the future will have detail in the "Upcoming" tab. This is accessible internally by all staff with Swiftly dashboard access.
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