these days the topic of intermodal routing gets more and more attention. Some partners asked me about the difference between xRoute's and xIntermodal's handling of ferries. Therefore I decided to gather the core benefits in this thread. The trigger for the questions was the Considering Combined Transports article in the xServer2 documentation. Here we go:
- In xRoute an intermodal object such as a ferry or a piggyback is more or less just a combination of pickup and delivery location (and its polyline) and a static "driving period" (and no distance, btw). So when such a ferry appears in the result incl. a specific "time of arrival at the ferry entrance" the router immediately continues the trip though in real life there's a high probability of a waiting period. Within xIntermodal such an object also considers flexible timetable and this would return the additional waiting time according to the ferry schedule.
- The number of intermodal objects in xRoute is fixed within the used map. In xIntermodal a user is enabled to import own data records for Agencies, Transfers, Timetables, Terminals, ...
- screenshot from the xIntermodal API
- With xIntermodal you can restrict the means of transport for the alternatives: excludedTransportModeCodes
- With xIntermodal you can link a GTFSRoute to a GTFSAgency: excludedOperatorCodes
As some users have negotiated contracts with those agencies you could filter an xIntermodal route to such agencies (on client side)
To be continued / extended,
Bernd
