What is interlining?
Interlining is a common practice in the transit industry that combines two or more independent routes that arrive and depart from a common terminal. For example, a bus can arrive at a stop on a university campus on one route and after a brief layover, leave on a different route. When the bus leaves on its new route, the head sign and automated announcements get updates seamlessly. Interlining eliminates extended periods of down time where a bus would just be parked and out of service.
Watch the video below for an overview
The benefits of interlining
Based on industry averages and best practices, there are some surprising savings for universities who implement interlining, for even just two routes.
In the example above, before interlining, four vehicles and drivers were required to serve the Orange and Blue routes. By interlining these two routes, only three vehicles and drivers would be required to deliver the same level of service.
How much would a university theoretically save in this example? Assuming that a bus operates 19 hours a day, 6 days a week at an average operating cost of $140/hour, this would eliminate the need for one bus and result in operational savings in excess of $800,000 per year!
Streets supports interlining
Using Streets visual blocking and run cutting tool makes it easy to identify opportunities for interlining. Head sign integration ensures that signage always reflects the correct route and passenger information is reliable. And lastly, Streets makes sure universities are still getting accurate mileage, ridership, and time data for each route.
Win-win-win for all
When interlining is supported by accurate data and solid scheduling, it benefits the university, the drivers, and the riders. It’s a rare case of win-win-win.