NORTA Trip Planning

Trip Planner is an automated trip planning service fo the users of public transportation services.

Introduction to the NORTA Trip Planner
How to create your search
Activating the search
Search results
Advanced search
Map functions
WWW -technical info
Legend of symbols
Transport data update

Please read also the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Introduction to the Trip Planner

The Trip Planner allows you to search for the best public transport connections between your origin and destination. The Trip Planner includes all modes of fixed-route Public Transportation in the region. Trip Planner also knows fastest ways to walk throughout the region, so it will plan your trip on a door-to-door basis. Included in the trip are the walking directions from your trip origin to the first transit stop and from the last transit stop to your destination. Any intermediate walking directions needed to transfer from one transit vehicle to another are also provided.

With the Trip Planner, planning your trip is much easier than working with printed timetables and route maps. You only need to tell the Trip Planner the origin and destination of your trip, as well as the time and date you wish to travel. Trip Planner automatically calculates possible transfers between routes, even for different transit agencies. Trip Planner will suggest the most favorable connections available at the given time.

Notice that the search results provided by the service are suggestions, which should be helpful with the planning of your trip. The suggested connections are based on estimated travel times, which may not hold true due to weather, traffic conditions or other disturbances in the transportation system. The region's transit agencies are in no way liable for any harm caused by possibly unsuccessful transport connections suggested by the Trip Planner.

The Trip Planner is highly customizable, and you can save your own favorite locations for planning future trips.

The use of the Trip Planner internet service is provided free of charge through a collaborative effort by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority.

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How to create your search

1. Origin (from) and destination (to) The Trip Planner will suggest several potential trips between your origin and destination at the specified time and date. First, you should select your origin and then your destination using any of the following methods: Type a street address,name of stop or place of interest Clicking the Map Use the alphabetical index Use own locations

a.	Type a street address, name of stop or place of intreest in the text field (e.g. 100 Burgandy or Louisiana superdome or Canal St @ Bourbon St). Type at least first 3 characters of the keyword you are searching for and click SEARCH. If there are multiple results matching your search, select the correct location from the pull-down list. If you type or select a street name without the address number, the service will request the number separately. You can also type the full address directly, followed by the County (e.g. 00 Burgandy, New Orleans). Accepted input will appear on the search form in bold blue type.
b.	Clicking the Map link will open a map window, where you can point to the location of your origin or destination on the map. You can then zoom in or out and scroll left or right to view different sections of the map. The address closest to the location you pointed at while using the left mouse button will be selected. A new left-click while pointing on the map will always change the selected address.
c.	The link Index will lead to an alphabetical index of locations, where you can search from a list of street names, transit stops or points of interest.
d.	Clicking on Own Locations brings up a list o previously saved locations and routes. By clicking on a location name in this list the location will be typed into the current input field (where the cursor is blinking). Press SEARCH after you have entered Origin and Destination. If you click on a saved route the Trip Planner will immedeatly start the search, since a saved route already has all necessary information. You can save a location by clicking Save link right to a found location.

2. Time and date

The Trip Planner will use the current time as the default departure time. You can also alter the time and date based on when you want to leave your origin (Depart at) or arrive at your desination (Arrive at). The Calendar link shows a calendar to help you select the date. In this calendar the currend day is marked orange. The link New search will always bring up the current time and date from the system. If you are searching for trips past midnight, make sure that you set the date accordingly.

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Activating the search

After the origin, destination, time and date have been set correctly, you can activate the search by clicking the SEARCH button. The Trip Planner will show a trip summary of the itineraries under the tab Route Summary, and detailed trip itineraries under the tab Route Details.

The links Earlier and Later will adjust the time of the search to the next or previous available routes, and the link Now will update the search by getting the current system time.

The Save Route link let you save the origin and the destination (and the via in the Advanced Options) of trip into your Own locations list. Continue will place the destination as new origin and empties the current destination, while Return Route exchanges Origin and Destination.

Route Summary

In the trip summary view you can see the key information about suggested itineraries including the trip times, routes used and total walking distance. You can inspect the suggested itineraries on the map by clicking the link Route that will also show a listing of all stops passed on the route.

Route Details

The detailed itinerary description will show all the information required for making the trip. Hyperlinks to Timetables related to the lines and stops used on the suggested route are included in the itinerary description. In addition to the Route link you have a link to the map for every stop on the route.

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Advanced Options

Clicking the link Advanced Options will open additional selections and and settings below the basic search form. With these settings you can tune the search to match your preferences.

Via and time at via You can enter a Via location similar to the origin and destination entries. This location will be a stop in the route suggestion. The Time at via is the period before the trip will continue from the via location to the destination.
Transport Modes Here You can exclude means of transportation from the search. If You e.g. do not want to travel by train, simply uncheck train.
Walking speed can be selected from the following levels: slow - 100 feet per minute default - 230 feet per minute fast - 330 feet per minute running - 650 feet per minute cycling - 950 feet per minute The default speed 230 feet/min is commonly used for walking in urban traffic conditions.
Max walk distance defines the preferred maximum walking distance for the trip. A trip that has more than the max walk distance will show the walking distance in red.
Route optimization can be selected from four different profiles: default: based on real passenger behaviour regarding walking and transfers fastest route: will minimize travel time minimize transfers: will use as little transfers a possible minimize walking: will minimize the total walking distance included in the route
Transfer safety margin means the required time difference between the arrival and next departure at a stop while transferring from one vehicle to another. The default margin is 3 minutes. If the estimated arrival time is 8:30 AM, it is possible to transfer to a vehicle departing from the same stop at 8:33 AM or later. Reducing the default margin can allow faster possible connections, but the reliability of the suggested transfers will also be reduced and the connection may not be successful in practice. Increasing the margin will produce slower but more reliable connections. Some transfer points have a fixed margin which will override the user setting.
In Preferred transportation You can select a transportation type e.g. walk, bus or train. The Trip Planner will try to find routes with this transportation type. Unlike Transport modes this option does not exclude a transportation type, it will only choose the preferred transportation if this is reasonable for the requested trip.
Line Inclusion/Exclusion With this option You can Exclude Lines: Forces The Trip Planner to use other lines. You can use this to avoid specific lines. Include Lines: Forces The Trip Planner only to use the selected lines. If You already know a good route You can use this to find more departure times for this route. No in- or exclusion: The Trip Planner can use all lines When you select a line to in- or exclude, a new drop down list for further in- or exclusions appears. With this You can choose up to 20 lines.
Number of results defines the number of shown results. The default is 3.

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Map functions

The Trip Planner includes an integrated map server, which allows the following functions: Showing the route on a map Showing the location of a place or address on a map Selecting origin and destination from a searchable map The map can be shown on different scale levels which you can change with the scale bar on the right of the map. The blue frame shows the area included in view at the next zoom level. You can re-center the map by left-clicking while pointing at the map or scroll by clicking the directional arrows around the map edge. On higher zoom levels you can show points of interest with the link Show POIs. The POIs are numbered on the map and an according list of the POIs is shown below the map.

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WWW -technical info

Browser requirements

The Trip Planner is not designed for any specific Internet browser. It should work with most browser products and versions currently in common use. If the service does not function properly with the browser you are using, please send us feedback using the form(remember to specify the browser software and version you are using). We are grateful for all feedback that helps us to improve our service.

Cookies

Cookies are small files saved on your computer by Internet services and re-sent to the same services when needed to restore your own settings. Saving your own routes and locations as well as other preferences with the Trip Planner requires your browser settings to enable saving cookies on your computer. You can use most of the other Trip Planner functions without accepting cookies.

Instructions to accept cookies with different browsers:

Internet Explorer 5.0 (eng):	Tools / Internet Options / Security / Internet, select 'Custom Level' -> Security Settings / Cookies, select 'Enable'
Netscape 4.x:	Edit / Preferences / Advanced, select 'Accept all cookies'
Netscape 6:	Edit / Preferences / Advanced / Cookies, select 'Enable all cookies'
Opera 5.x:	File / Preferences / Privacy / Cookies, select 'Automatically accept all cookies'

Javascript

The NTP Trip Planner needs to have Javascript enabled to have full functionality.

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Legend of symbols and colours

Show/select on the map
Return connection
Save own location/connection
Walking
Bus (A)
Bus (B)
Bus (C)
Bus (D)
Boarding/alighting
Origin/destination

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Information sources

The Trip Planner service and the data used in Trip Planner is updated regularly with intervals of two weeks or less. Please report to us any errors or missing data noticed using the feedback form. The use of this data is based on a licensing agreement with these cities.

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