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Alight — To get off a transit vehicle. Plural: “alightings”.

Alignment — The horizontal and vertical ground plan of a roadway, railroad, transit route or other facility.

Allocation — An administrative distribution of funds, for example, federal funds among the states; used for funds that do not have legislatively mandated distribution formula.

Alternative Fuel — A liquid or gaseous nonpetroleum fuel, used to power transit vehicles. Usually refers to alcohol fuels, mineral fuels, natural gas, and hydrogen.

Synonyms: AM Rush, Early Peak, Morning Peak, Morning Rush, Morning Commission, Hour

AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) — A quasi-public corporation created by the federal Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 to improve and develop intercity passenger rail service throughout the United States. Operates a depot in downtown Sacramento.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) — The law passed by Congress in 1990 which makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in employment, services provided by state and local governments, public and private transportation, public accommodations and telecommunications.

APP AR — An abbreviation for “approximate arrival” time point. RT's operating policy permits driver discretion to depart these time points up to three minutes earlier than specific time noted in the schedule.

Appropriation — An act of Congress that permits federal agencies to incur obligations and make payments for specific purposes.

Arterial Street — A major thoroughfare, used primarily for through traffic rather than for access to adjacent land, that is characterized by high vehicular capacity and continuity of movement.

Authorization — Basic, substantive federal legislation that established or continues the legal operation of federal program agencies, either indefinitely or for a specific period of time.

Automatic Passenger Counts (APC) (predates "smart technology") — A technology installed on transit vehicles that counts the number of boarding and alighting passengers at each stop while also noting the time. Passengers are counted using either pulse beams or step treadles located at each door. Stop location is generally identified through use of either global positioning systems (GPS) or signpost transmitters in combination with vehicle odometers.

Synonyms: Smart Counters

Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) — A system that senses, at intervals, the monitors the real-time location of transit vehicles carrying special electronic equipment that communicates a signal back to a central control facility, locating the vehicle and providing other information about its operations or about its mechanical condition.

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Board — To go onto or into a transit vehicle. Plural: “Boardings”.

Branch — One of multiple route segments served by a single route.

Bus Hours — The total hours of travel by bus, including both revenue service and deadhead travel.

Synonyms: Vehicle Hours

Bus Miles — The total miles of travel by bus, including both revenue and deadhead travel.

Synonyms: Vehicle Miles

Bus Shelter — A structure constructed near a bus stop to provide seating and protection from the weather for the convenience of waiting passengers.

Busway — A special roadway designed for exclusive use by buses. It may be constructed at, above, or below grade and may be located in separate rights-of-way or within highway corridors.

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Capital — Long-term assets, such as property, buildings, roads, rail lines, and vehicles.

Corridor — A broad geographical band that follows a general directional flow or connects major sources of trips. It may contain a number of streets and highways and many transit lines and routes.

Crosstown Route — Non-radial bus service that normally does not enter the Central Business District (CBD).

Synonyms: Non-Revenue Time

Discretionary — Subject to the discretion of legislators or an administrator. The federal Section 5309 New Starts Program is an example of a discretionary program.

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Express Service — Express service is deployed in one of two general configurations:

(1) A service generally connecting residential areas and activity centers via a high speed, non-stop connection, e.g., a freeway, or exclusive right-of-way such as a dedicated busway with limited stops at each end for collection and distribution. Residential collection can be exclusively or partially undertaken using park-and-ride facilities.

(2) Service operated non-stop over a portion of an arterial in conjunction with other local services. The need for such service arises where passenger demand between points on a corridor is high enough to separate demand and support dedicated express trips.

Synonyms: Rapids (1 or 2), Commuter Express (1), Flyers (1)

Farebox Recovery Ratio — A measure of the proportion of transit operating expenses covered by passenger fares. It is calculated by dividing a transit operator’s fare box revenue by its total operating expenses.

Synonyms: Fare Recovery Ratio

Farebox Revenue — The value of cash, tickets and pass receipts given by passengers as payment for public transit rides.

Feeder Service — Service that picks up and delivers passengers to a regional mode at a rail station, express bus stop, transit center, terminal, Park-and-Ride, or other transfer facility.

Fixed Route — Transit service provided on a repetitive, fixed-schedule basis along a specific route, with vehicles stopping to pick up passengers at and deliver passengers to specific locations.

Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) — An agreement executed by the federal government with a public transit operator that assures the operator of the federal government’s intention to fully fund the federal share of a New Starts project.

FY (Fiscal Year) — A yearly accounting period designated by the calendar year in which it ends (e.g. FY 2000). The fiscal year for the federal government runs from October 1 to September 30. The fiscal year for both the state of California and RT runs from July 1 to June 30.

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Garage — The place where revenue vehicles are stored and maintained and from where they are dispatched and recovered for the delivery of scheduled service.

Synonyms: Barn, Base, Depot, District, Division, O/M Facility (ops/maint), Yard

Synonyms: Frequency, Schedule, Vehicle Spacing

Heavy Rail — An electric railway with capacity for a “heavy volume” of traffic, and characterized by exclusive rights-of-way, high speed and rapid acceleration. Heavy rail is different from commuter rail and light rail.

Synonyms: Subway, elevated railway, rapid transit

Intercity Rail — A long distance passenger rail transportation system between at least two central cities that, in California, traditionally has been provided by AMTRAK either directly or through a local Joint Powers Authority.

Interlining — Interlining is used in two ways: Interlining allows the use of the same revenue vehicle and/or operator on more than one route without going back to the garage. Interlining is often considered as a means to minimize vehicle requirements as well as a method to provide transfer enhancement for passengers. For interlining to be feasible, two (or more) routes must share a common terminus or be reasonably proximate to each other (see DEADHEAD).

Synonyms: Through Routes, Interlock Routes, Interlocking

Joint Powers Authority — A group of representatives from several entities that have agreed to undertake a joint venture. There are two JPAs in the Sacramento region: the Capitol Corridor JPA which administers the Capitols intercity rail passenger service between Sacramento and San Jose, and the Sacramento-Placerville Transportation Corridor JPA, which administers the historic right-of-way between Sacramento and Placerville, a portion of which contains RT light rail service.

Synonyms: Recovery

Light Rail Transit (LRT) — An electric railway with a “light volume” traffic capacity compared with heavy rail.

Synonyms: Streetcar, trolley car and tramway

Linked Passenger Trips — A linked passenger trip is a trip from origin to destination on the transit system. Even if a passenger must make several transfers during a one way journey, the trip is counted as one linked trip on the system. Unlinked passenger trips count each boarding as a separate trip regardless of transfers.

Measure A — Refers to the 1988 ballot measure that provides 1/3 of 1/2 cent of sales tax revenue for transit in Sacramento County.

Minibus — A rubber-tired road vehicle designed to carry a small number of passengers (i.e., 12 or less), commonly operated on streets and highways for public transportation service.

Missed Trip — A schedule trip that did not operate for a variety of reasons including operator absence, vehicle failure, dispatch error, traffic, accident or other unforeseen reason.

New Starts — Federal funding granted under Section 5309 (B) of the United States Code. These discretionary funds are made available for the construction of new fixed guideway systems or extensions of existing fixed guideway systems.

Operating — Maintaining the ongoing functions of an agency or service. “Operating expenses” include wages, benefits, supplies, and services. “Operating assistance” is used to pay for the costs of providing public transit service.

Synonyms: Hawk

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Paratransit — Transportation service required by ADA for individuals with disabilities who are unable to use fixed-route transit systems. The service must be comparable to the fixed-route service.

Park-and-Ride — A parking area for automobile drivers who then board vehicles, shuttles or carpools from these locations.

Passenger Check — A check (count) made of passengers arriving at, boarding and alighting, leaving from, or passing through one or more points on a route. Checks are conducted by riding (ridecheck) or at specific locations (point check). Passenger checks are conducted in order to obtain information on passenger riding that will assist in determining both appropriate directional headways on a route and the effectiveness of the route alignment. They are also undertaken to meet FTA Section 15 reporting requirements and to calibrate revenue-based ridership models.

Synonyms: Tally

Passenger Miles — A measure of service utilization which represents the cumulative sum of the distances ridden by each passenger. It is normally calculated by summation of the passenger load times the distance between individual bus stops. For example, ten passengers riding in a transit vehicle for two miles equals 20 passenger miles.

Peak Hour/Peak Period — The period with the highest ridership during the entire service day, generally referring to either the peak hour or peak several hours (peak period).

Synonyms: Commission Hour

Pick — The selection process by which operators are allowed to select new work assignments, i.e., run or the Extra Board in the next (forthcoming) schedule.

Synonyms: Bid, Mark-up, Line-up, Shake-up, Sign-up

Program — (1) verb, to assign funds to a project; (2) noun, a system of funding for implementing transportation projects or policies.

Pull-In Time — The non-revenue time assigned for the movement of a revenue vehicle from its last scheduled terminus or stop to the garage.

Synonyms: Turn-In Time, Deadhead Time, Run-off Time

Pull-Out Time — The non-revenue time assigned for the movement of a revenue vehicle from the garage to its first scheduled terminus or stop.

Synonyms: Deadhead Time, Run-on Time

Recovery Time — Recovery time is distinct from layover, although they are usually combined together. Recovery time is a planned time allowance between the arrival time of a just completed trip and the departure time of the next trip in order to allow the route to return to schedule if traffic, loading, or other conditions have made the trip arrive late. Recovery time is considered as reserve running time and typically, the operator will remain on duty during the recovery period.

Synonyms: Layover Time

Revenue Vehicle Hour — The measure of scheduled hours of service available to passengers for transport on the routes, equivalent to one transit vehicle traveling in one hour in revenue service, excluding deadhead hours but including recovery/layover time. Calculated for each route.

Revenue Service — When a revenue vehicle is in operation over a route and is available to the public for transport.

Right-of-Way (ROW, R/W) — The land over which a public road or rail line is built. An exclusive right-of-way is a road, lane, or other right-of-way designated exclusively for a specific purpose or for a particular group of users, such as light rail vehicles or buses.

Rolling Stock — The vehicles used in a transit system, including buses and rail cars.

Synonyms: Fleet

Running Time — The time assigned for the movement of a revenue vehicle over a route, usually done on a [route] segment basis by various time of day.

Synonyms: Travel Time

Schedule — From the transit agency (not the public timetable), a document that, at a minimum, shows the time of each revenue trip through the designated time points. Many properties include additional information such as route descriptions, deadhead times and amounts, interline information, run numbers, block numbers, etc.

Synonyms: Headway, Master Schedule, Timetable, Operating Schedule, Recap/ Supervisor’s Guide

Service Span — The span of hours over which service is operated, e.g., 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 24 hr (owl). Service span often varies by weekday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Synonyms: Span of Service, Service Day

Subsidy — Funds granted by federal, state or local government.

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Time Point — A designated location and time that a bus or LR vehicle can arrive before – but not leave earlier than – the stated time as indicated in the route schedule.

Timed Transfer — A point or location where two or more routes come together at the same time to provide positive transfer connections. A short layover may be provided at the timed transfer point to enhance the connection. Timed transfers have had increasing application as service frequencies have been reduced below 15 to 20 minutes and hub-and-spoke network deployment has grown.

Synonyms: Pulse Transfer, Positive Transfer

Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) — The 1998 law that reauthorizes federal surface transportation programs for six years (FY 1998 to FY 2003). TEA-21 preserves much of the basic programmatic structure of its predecessor, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).

Travel Time — The time allows for an operator to travel between the garage and a remote relief point.

Synonyms: Relief Time, Travel Allowance

Trip — The one-way operation of a revenue vehicle between two terminal points on a route. Trips are generally noted as inbound, outbound, eastbound, westbound, etc. to identify directionality when being discussed or printed.

Synonyms: Journey, One-Way Trip

Total Miles — The total miles includes revenue, deadhead, and yard (maintenance and servicing) miles.

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Unlinked Passenger Trips — The total number of passengers who board public transit vehicles. A passenger is counted each time he/she boards a revenue vehicle even though the boarding may be the result of a transfer from another route to complete the same one-way journey. Where linked or unlinked is not designated, unlinked is assumed.

Synonyms: Passengers, Passenger Trips