Project dictionary

Many terms related to public transportation have multiple meanings for different speakers. In addition translations between English and Finnish might be unintuitive, as the most similar word in the other language might refer to different thing.

This page defines the vocabulary used in the project source code and documentation.

Terms also used in GTFS or OpenTripPlanner are marked.

route (GTFS, OTP), linja

Public transport service shown to customers under a single name, usually from point A to B and back. For example: trams 1 and 1A, buses 18 and 102T, or train A. Commonly used synonyms: line

pattern (OTP)

Sequence of stops as used by a specific direction and variant of a route. For example a tram entering/departing service from/to the depot usually joins at the middle of the route, or a route might have a short term diversion (poikkeusreitti) without changing the route name (longer diversions usually are marked as different routes).

block (GTFS)

If customers can stay aboard a vehicle that changes its route, the trips belong to the same block. For example tram 2 arriving to Olympialaituri departs as tram 3: 2 and 3 are opposite sides on a circular route.

timepoint (GTFS), (ajan)tasauspysäkki

A stop for a route where the vehicle will not depart until the scheduled departure time.

trip (GTFS, OTP), lähtö / vuoro

A specific occurance of a route, usually identified by the route and exact departure time from the first stop. For example bus 102 leaving from Otaniemi on 2015-05-01 10:00, or more generally (e.g. a GTFS trip) leaving from Otaniemi at 10:00 on specified days (e.g. Monday to Friday from 2015-08-10 to 2016-05-31 excluding holidays).

service (GTFS)

Combination of trips that operate on certain weekdays (given in GTFS calendar.txt), with exceptional missing and additional days (calendar_dates.txt) for a given time period (from date A to date B).

(transportation) mode, kulkumuoto

Means of transport, for example: walking, cycling, driving a car, bus, train, subway, tram, ferry, taxi, airplane.

itinerary, reitti

Combination of different transportation modes at certain times to reach from origin to destination. For example to go from Pasila (Helsinki) to Koskikeskus (Tampere) you could walk to the train station, take the 14:00 P train to Aviapolis, walk to the airport, take the 15:00 flight to Tampere-Pirkkala, take a taxi to destination. Commonly used synonyms: journey

leg

One part of an itinerary.

origin, lähtöpaikka

When the context is a person; the geographical point where an itinerary begins. When the context is a route; the first stop on the route or the first location on the headsign.

destination, määränpää

When the context is a person; the geographical point where an itinerary ends. When the context is a route; the last stop on the route or the last location on the headsign.

headsign, linjakilpi

Description of a route usually written on the front of the vehicle. For example: "Helsinki" (for just the destination) or "Helsinki - Tampere" (for both the origin and destination).

position, sijainti

The current location of a user, usually measured with GPS. Note: geolocationing is used as the technical term for acquire the position with the instruments in the user's device.

location, paikka

A geographical point where something is, usually given as coordinates.

point of interest / POI

A public service or amenity (eg. a hospital or a church), a landmark (eg. the Sibelius monument), business (eg. ABC fuel station) or other geographical place of general interest.

(reverse) geocoding

Finding the location (coordinates) of something, for example an address or a POI. Reverse geocoding is determining the human readable textual form for coordinates, and is inherently ambiguous because places can have both addresses and names.

Park and Ride

Combination of public transport and car travel ("Liityntäpysäköinti")

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority HSL / Helsinki Region Transport HSL, HSL Helsingin seudun liikenne

The public transportation agency in Helsinki region.

JORE / joukkoliikennerekisteri

"Public transportation registry". The database of HSL for public transportation in the Helsinki region.

Vallu

Public transportation registry of Finnish Transport Agency for all long distance public transportation in Finland.

Kalkati

An XML format used for Vallu exports.