Support for modes and how they should be specificed

[gmellemstrand]

I am creating this issue to discuss how modes and combination of modes should be expressed. As it is now, it seems a bit confusing because I think there are several concepts/dimensions being combined in a single list of modes.

As I see it, these are the 9 "mode combinations" supported today. This comes in addition to the actual transit modes requested (bus/train etc.). I have also included combinations that are not supported, and many of them probably should not be supported either.

So a routing request could be something like this:

Combinations:

B F FTF B (P) FTF

Transit modes:

Train Bus Tram

Then we can decide how to handle each combination. For example the walk only, bike only and car only searches can be done completely separate from the transit routing.

Overview of modes

Abbreviation	Description
C	Car / taxi
B	Bike
F	Foot
T	Transit
(P)	Pickup/dropoff vehicle at parking
(PF)	Pickup/dropoff free floating vehicle

Combinations supported today

#	Abbreviation	Description
1	T	Transit search beginning and ending at a stop
2	FTF	Transit search with walk legs at each end
3	F	Walk only
4	B	Bike only
5	C	Car / taxi only
6	C FTF	Kiss & ride
7	FTF C	Ride & kiss
8	C (P) FTF	Park & ride
9	B (P) FTF	Bike & ride (park at bike park)

Combinations not supported today

#	Abbreviation	Description
10	C FTF C	Kiss & ride & kiss
11	B FTF	Bike & ride (leave bike at boarding point)
12	FTF (P) C	Ride & pickup (pickup car at parking)
13	FTF (P) B	Ride & bike (pickup bike at parking)
14	FTF B	Ride & bike (pickup bike at alighting point
15	B T B	Take bike on transit (maybe also bike when transfering)
16	F C FTF	Kiss & ride including walking at the start
17	FTF C F	Ride & kiss including walking at the end
18	F (PF) B (PF) F	Free floating bike (or city bike) with walking at each end
19	F (PF) B (PF) FTF	Free floating bike (or city bike) before transit
20	FTF (PF) B (PF) F	Free floating bike (or city bike) after transit
21	F (PF) B FTF B (PF) F	Take free floating bike (or city bike) with you on transit
22	FTF (PF) B (PF) FTF	Use free floating bike (or city bike) for transfers

[flaktack]

There is also the option of using a free floating bike for transferring between stops:

FTF (PF) B (PF) FTF

[gmellemstrand]

There is also the option of using a free floating bike for transferring between stops:

FTF (PF) B (PF) FTF

True. I also realize that all the options that use free floating bike are also valid for regular city bike rental.

Also, most cases of flexible transportation will have to be separate items on the list.

[t2gran]

I think OTP should use a state machine to enforce this, and that the legal combinations should be defined in one place - maybe even configurable.

[evansiroky]

I'm commenting here so I can follow this conversation. In my work in #2678 and #2680, I added the CAR_HAIL and CAR_RENT modes. Also, I am doing extensive work in adding support for eScooters over here: https://github.com/ibi-group/OpenTripPlanner/tree/micromobility. For the eScooters I have added an entirely new mode called MICROMOBILITY. It also works with the RENT qualifier (MICROMOBILITY_RENT).

[gmellemstrand]

A couple of points:

• Some modes, like bike rental, includes several smaller mode transitions. Walk -> bike -> walk with bike -> bike etc. A good first implementation could be to combine this to a bike rental mode when specifying modes in the request. The next step would then be to refactor the AStar implementation to use a state-machine where all of these smaller transitions are also defined.
• Transfers should be walk-only as a first implementation.
• We have to make decision whether to route combine mode-combinations when routing access/egress or do it all in separate searches. Doing combinations separate would simplify the Raptor search, as it would not need to have access modes as part of the pareto set.

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