Scheduling 102: Interlining



Welcome to Scheduling 102

Most people I believe understand the basics of scheduling: A time is given at certain points of a line where a bus is scheduled to arrive. Such as below:

  
This is the current CityLink Red Sunday schedule. As you might have noticed, not all trips start from Downtown and not all trips end in Downtown. The trips starting from Greenmount & North Avenue end up in Towson but don't come back. That's because they then switch over to LocalLink 93 trips between Towson and Hunt Valley. 

This is called Interlining. Interlining is when a bus starts out on one line and ends up doing another line before completing its scheduled run. Interlining is used as an efficiency tool in transit to get more bang for your buck. School trippers and Express trippers routinely has buses come off of or start on one line, before switching to another route. 

 The Red/93 interline is unique as it occurs throughout the week whereas most interlining scheduling occurs Monday-Friday. 

Those trips shown starting on the Red then show up on the 93 schedule as shown below:

So for example, the 5:55am trip from Towson actually started out as a Red leaving Greenmount & North at 5:13am. Now that same bus remains on the 93 until 9:33am, when it switches back to the Red and terminates at Greenmount & North at 10:06am. That's the end of the opeator's run for this moment. The next trip from Greenmount & North replaces that bus and is out there for another 4-5 hours before completing its run on the Red. 

Coach #09076 seen in Lutherville on its way to Towson. Upon arriving in Towson, the operator will set their sign for RD Greenmount North.


As previously mentioned, Interlining happens more often during the week. Express BusLink routes like the 103 benefit from this method. 

Coach 04037 seen on St. Paul at Saratoga on the LocalLink 95 from Roland Park.

The same bus leaving Charles & Pratt, signed for the 103 to Cromwell Bridge Park & Ride.     

So the operator does two routes without having two separate buses perform the same duty. 

Of course, the downside to interlining is if something happens and the bus is unable to complete the first route, the second route is also affected. This leads to a delay and unhappy passengers. 

Overall, Interlining is a great cost saving method that can benefit riders and transit agencies alike. 


Next lesson: Layovers and Deadheads

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