INFO-Agent Parameters

Table 1. Description of INFO-Agent Parameters
Parameter	Description	Default Value	CTM Engine/CTM Server	INFO-Engine
Maximum Stop Distance (Origin)	The farthest distance that the departure stop is away from the origin. This is used in conjunction with the Stop Access Method (Origin) parameter.		X	X
Maximum Stop Count (Origin)	The maximum number of stops within the specified stop distance (see Maximum Stop Distance (Origin)), closest to the origin point that will be considered in the algorithm. If there are fewer stops than this number within the specified distance, this parameter is ignored. This parameter effectively reduces the superfluous number of stops that can be found within the realistic walking distance in the areas with numerous closely spaced stops (typically downtown). To turn off this parameter, set it to a very high number. In this case, Max Walking Distance (Origin) will be the limiting factor.	20	X	X
Stop Access Method (Origin)	The three stop access methods are: Circle The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a point-to-point (as the crow flies) calculation method. Street Network The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a calculation method that takes a path along the street network (also referred to as walkout). If the Trace Options switch, Report Street Walking Distances is enabled, the walking distances at the origin, destination, and at transfers are shown via the Street Router method. This system setting is for CTM only. Barrier The stops that will be considered by the algorithm using the circle method plus pre-created polygons defined as barriers. Note this method is only used by CTM Server.		X	X
Street Network Access (Origin)	Determines how the walking distance is calculated based on the vehicle class.
Street Network Access (Destination)	See Street Network Access (Origin).
Maximum Stop Distance (Destination)	The farthest distance the departure stop is away from the destination. Used in conjunction with the Stop Access Method (Destination) parameter.		X	X
Maximum Stop Count (Destination)	The maximum number of stops within the specified walking distance (see Max Walking Distance (Destination)), closest to the destination point, that will be considered in the algorithm. If there are fewer stops than this number within the specified distance, this parameter is ignored. This parameter effectively reduces the superfluous number of stops that can be found within the realistic walking distance in the areas with numerous closely spaced stops (typically downtown). To turn off this parameter, set it to a very high number. In this case, Max Walking Distance (Destination) will be the limiting factor.	20	X	X
Stop Access Method (Destination)	The three stop access methods are: Circle The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a point-to-point (as the crow flies) calculation method. Street Network The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a calculation method that takes a path along the street network (also referred to as walkout). If the Trace Options switch, Report Street Walking Distances is enabled, the walking distances at the origin, destination, and at transfers are shown via the Street Router method. This system setting is for CTM only. Barrier The stops that will be considered by the algorithm using the circle method plus pre-created polygons defined as barriers. Note this method is only used by CTM Server.		X	X
Maximum Stop Distance (Extended)	The maximum distance to look for stops if no stops are found within the Max Stop Distance (Origin) and Max Stop Distance (Destination) parameters. The stops found using this parameter will use the Circle Stop Access method (point-to-point).		X
Maximum Walking Distance (Transfer)	The farthest walking distance allowed to/from a bus stop at transfer locations.	100 m	X	X
Maximum Stop Distance from a Transit Access Path	The perpendicular distance the stop is away from the street segment that the algorithm will use to search for the stop.			X
Early Leeway Time	The window or interval before a departure or arrival time in which the system looks for stop times. For example, when conducting itinerary searches within a 30-minute time window, the system searches 30 minutes prior to a specified departure time.		30 min	X
Late Leeway Time	The window or interval after a departure or arrival time in which the system looks for stop times. For example, when conducting itinerary searches within a 30-minute time window, the system searches 30 minutes after a specified departure time.		30 min	X
Min Transfer Time	The minimum layover (that is time between alighting one vehicle and boarding the next one). This can be overridden for specific transfers. This parameter is ignored for no-cost transfers.		2 minutes	X
Max Transfer Time	The maximum layover time (that is time between alighting one vehicle and boarding the next one).		1h00	X
Max Itinerary Time	The maximum duration of a trip from the time the passenger boards the first vehicle and alights the last vehicle (including layovers).		3h00	X
Predefined Itineraries	This parameter controls whether the predefined itineraries (also referred to as saved itineraries and favorite itineraries) are going to be applied in a search. By default, they will be applied disregarding the Max Number of Transfers parameter. The three options are: No Unlimited Transfers Limited Transfers		Unlimited Transfers
Min Number of Transfers	The minimum number of countable transfers for the itinerary that are going to be considered as valid solutions. No cost transfers within the same line are not considered countable, and therefore they are ignored for this purpose.		0	X
Max Number of Transfers	The maximum number of countable transfers allowed in a given trip plan. No cost transfers within the same line are not considered countable, and therefore they are ignored for this purpose.		1	X
Min Transfer Level	This parameter requires that only transfers of a specified level or better be used in planning itineraries. Type a number from 1 to 10 (where 10 is the category of least preferred transfer). The default value is 10 (use all transfers). You can determine transfer levels per transfer in the Transfer Wizard by editing a transfer or in the Automatic tab.		10	X
Expand Extent	The algorithm generates itineraries in two stages: In the first stage, it generates the layouts of the possible solutions taking into consideration only the line/direction combinations, regardless of stops at which the transfers are made. In the second stage (Generating itineraries), in order to be able to determine whether the times can be assigned at the specified time of day, the layouts are expanded so that they represent the actual solutions with the particular transfer stops. Each layout is expanded into a number of actual itineraries which are ordered by the quality of their transfers (that is their transfer levels) and subsequently timed. By default (when Expand Extent is 0), all these itineraries are timed and the best one is kept as the solution. Setting the Expand Extent parameter to a number (for example, 3) directs the algorithm to time at most 3 of the different transfer combinations, which saves some time that would be spent on evaluating the itineraries that are less likely (due to the quality of their transfers) to produce desirable solutions.	0	X
Discard Overshoot	This parameter determines whether a transfer can be made within the Origin/Destination stop set. The four modes for this parameter are: 1 Discard all transfers within origin/destination stop set in sequence order. 0 Discard all transfers within origin/destination stop set. -1 Discard transfers within origin/destination stop set except for no cost transfers. -2 Allow all transfers.	0	X
Max Number of Itineraries	The maximum number of itineraries that the system will generate for a given request.		10	X
Max Stay-in-Seat Layover	The maximum layover time the system will allow on board a single vehicle.		10 minutes	X
Optimize Itineraries by Stop (Loop)	By default, the algorithm tries to assign the times for the generated itineraries starting with the closest stop on the particular line/direction. However, on loop routes it can happen that the closest stop that yields results is on the direction that sends the passenger around the loop, rather than one that is a little farther away but would provide much quicker itinerary. Setting this parameter to 1 (that is, on) makes the algorithm generate solutions that may be in the same (scheduled) direction but not necessarily the closest stop. To turn this parameter off, set the value at 0.		0	X
Optimize Itineraries by Trip (Pattern)	When this parameter is set to 1 (that is, on), the algorithm generates solutions that may not start with the closest time but rather searches all patterns until the best solution is found. To turn this parameter off, set the value at 0.		0	X
Accessibility	This parameter determines the accessibility required for the trip plan. Accessibility types are defined in the FX - Accessibility ancillary data screen.		0	X
Lines	This parameter lets you specify which transit lines should be used or avoided in the solutions generated for the particular request. When you click the down arrow in the Value field, the Lines Selection dialog box opens. Selecting a check box next to a line produces the following settings for the algorithm: Suppressed A red X tells the system not to consider solutions which include the suppressed line and direction combinations. This line is denoted with a minus symbol (-)-) in the Value field. Required A black check mark tells the system to consider solutions from the line as long as the solutions include all of the desired and required lines. These lines are denoted with a plus symbol (+) in the Value field. Desired A check mark with a grey background tells the system to consider solutions which include at least one of the desired or required line and direction combinations. These lines are denoted with an asterisk (*) symbol in the Value field.	[None]	X	X
Modes of Transportation	Provides the user the ability to include or exclude specific modes of transportation (for example, exclude `Rail`). You can add the Modes of Transportation parameter to the Step Sets in CTM Parameters.		Bus[+], Demand[+], Ferry[+], Flex[+], MOBMGT[+], PROJMAIN[+], Rail[+]	X
Personal Mode of Transportation for Entire Trip	Allows you to select the mode of transportation that the client uses for an entire trip. From the Value drop-down list, select the appropriate mode of transportation.		[None]
Default Passenger Type	Determines which predefined passenger type is the default value on the request tab. This passenger type fare is the one shown in the Fare column of the Details tab. Passenger types are defined in Faring/Fare Types ancillary data.		[None]	X
Default Itinerary Sort	Determines which sort order is the default for the parameter set. This parameter works in conjunction with the sort icons (By Time, By Walking Distance, By Number of Transfers, and By Lowest Fare). That is, when you select the corresponding icon in the toolbar, this parameter value changes and vice versa. When you select another sort order in the Parameters tab, you can see the corresponding sort icon activated.		Duration (By Time)	X
Step Set Name	The name of the step set that controls the number of steps performed for the particular search as well as their order and the parameters associated with them.		[None]	X
Accessibility at Origin	This determines the predefined accessibility type that will be applied as the default to the origin stop on the Request tab. For example, if the stop is equipped with a bike rack. You may choose None.		[None]
Accessibility at Destination	This determines the predefined accessibility type that will be applied as the default for the destination on the Request tab. You may choose None.		[None]
Min Stop Distance (Origin)	The minimum travel distance needed to get from the origin to the departure bus stop.		0
Min Stop Distance (Destination)	The minimum travel distance needed to get from the destination stop to the final destination.		0

Maximum Stop Distance (Origin)

The farthest distance that the departure stop is away from the origin.

This is used in conjunction with the Stop Access Method (Origin) parameter.

X

Maximum Stop Count (Origin)

The maximum number of stops within the specified stop distance (see Maximum Stop Distance (Origin)), closest to the origin point that will be considered in the algorithm.

If there are fewer stops than this number within the specified distance, this parameter is ignored.

This parameter effectively reduces the superfluous number of stops that can be found within the realistic walking distance in the areas with numerous closely spaced stops (typically downtown).

To turn off this parameter, set it to a very high number. In this case, Max Walking Distance (Origin) will be the limiting factor.

20

X

Stop Access Method (Origin)

The three stop access methods are:

Circle

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a point-to-point (as the crow flies) calculation method.

Street Network

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a calculation method that takes a path along the street network (also referred to as walkout).

If the Trace Options switch, Report Street Walking Distances is enabled, the walking distances at the origin, destination, and at transfers are shown via the Street Router method.

This system setting is for CTM only.

Barrier

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm using the circle method plus pre-created polygons defined as barriers.

Note this method is only used by CTM Server.

X

Street Network Access (Origin)

Determines how the walking distance is calculated based on the vehicle class.

Street Network Access (Destination)

See Street Network Access (Origin).

Maximum Stop Distance (Destination)

The farthest distance the departure stop is away from the destination.

Used in conjunction with the Stop Access Method (Destination) parameter.

X

Maximum Stop Count (Destination)

The maximum number of stops within the specified walking distance (see Max Walking Distance (Destination)), closest to the destination point, that will be considered in the algorithm.

If there are fewer stops than this number within the specified distance, this parameter is ignored.

This parameter effectively reduces the superfluous number of stops that can be found within the realistic walking distance in the areas with numerous closely spaced stops (typically downtown).

To turn off this parameter, set it to a very high number. In this case, Max Walking Distance (Destination) will be the limiting factor.

20

X

Stop Access Method (Destination)

The three stop access methods are:

Circle

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a point-to-point (as the crow flies) calculation method.

Street Network

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm that are closest to the origin using a calculation method that takes a path along the street network (also referred to as walkout).

If the Trace Options switch, Report Street Walking Distances is enabled, the walking distances at the origin, destination, and at transfers are shown via the Street Router method.

This system setting is for CTM only.

Barrier

The stops that will be considered by the algorithm using the circle method plus pre-created polygons defined as barriers.

Note this method is only used by CTM Server.

X

Maximum Stop Distance (Extended)

The maximum distance to look for stops if no stops are found within the Max Stop Distance (Origin) and Max Stop Distance (Destination) parameters.

The stops found using this parameter will use the Circle Stop Access method (point-to-point).

X

Maximum Walking Distance (Transfer)

The farthest walking distance allowed to/from a bus stop at transfer locations.

100 m

X

Maximum Stop Distance from a Transit Access Path

The perpendicular distance the stop is away from the street segment that the algorithm will use to search for the stop.

X

Early Leeway Time

The window or interval before a departure or arrival time in which the system looks for stop times.

For example, when conducting itinerary searches within a 30-minute time window, the system searches 30 minutes prior to a specified departure time.

30 min

X

Late Leeway Time

The window or interval after a departure or arrival time in which the system looks for stop times.

For example, when conducting itinerary searches within a 30-minute time window, the system searches 30 minutes after a specified departure time.

30 min

X

Min Transfer Time

The minimum layover (that is time between alighting one vehicle and boarding the next one).

This can be overridden for specific transfers.

This parameter is ignored for no-cost transfers.

2 minutes

X

Max Transfer Time

The maximum layover time (that is time between alighting one vehicle and boarding the next one).

1h00

X

Max Itinerary Time

The maximum duration of a trip from the time the passenger boards the first vehicle and alights the last vehicle (including layovers).

3h00

X

Predefined Itineraries

This parameter controls whether the predefined itineraries (also referred to as saved itineraries and favorite itineraries) are going to be applied in a search.

By default, they will be applied disregarding the Max Number of Transfers parameter.

The three options are:

No
Unlimited Transfers
Limited Transfers

Unlimited Transfers

Min Number of Transfers

The minimum number of countable transfers for the itinerary that are going to be considered as valid solutions.

No cost transfers within the same line are not considered countable, and therefore they are ignored for this purpose.

0

X

Max Number of Transfers

The maximum number of countable transfers allowed in a given trip plan.

No cost transfers within the same line are not considered countable, and therefore they are ignored for this purpose.

1

X

Min Transfer Level

This parameter requires that only transfers of a specified level or better be used in planning itineraries.

Type a number from 1 to 10 (where 10 is the category of least preferred transfer).

The default value is 10 (use all transfers).

You can determine transfer levels per transfer in the Transfer Wizard by editing a transfer or in the Automatic tab.

10

X

Expand Extent

The algorithm generates itineraries in two stages:

In the first stage, it generates the layouts of the possible solutions taking into consideration only the line/direction combinations, regardless of stops at which the transfers are made.

In the second stage (Generating itineraries), in order to be able to determine whether the times can be assigned at the specified time of day, the layouts are expanded so that they represent the actual solutions with the particular transfer stops. Each layout is expanded into a number of actual itineraries which are ordered by the quality of their transfers (that is their transfer levels) and subsequently timed.

By default (when Expand Extent is 0), all these itineraries are timed and the best one is kept as the solution. Setting the Expand Extent parameter to a number (for example, 3) directs the algorithm to time at most 3 of the different transfer combinations, which saves some time that would be spent on evaluating the itineraries that are less likely (due to the quality of their transfers) to produce desirable solutions.

0

X

Discard Overshoot

This parameter determines whether a transfer can be made within the Origin/Destination stop set.

The four modes for this parameter are:

1: Discard all transfers within origin/destination stop set in sequence order.
0: Discard all transfers within origin/destination stop set.
-1: Discard transfers within origin/destination stop set except for no cost transfers.
-2: Allow all transfers.

0

X

Max Number of Itineraries

The maximum number of itineraries that the system will generate for a given request.

10

X

Max

Stay-in-Seat Layover

The maximum layover time the system will allow on board a single vehicle.

10 minutes

X

Optimize Itineraries by Stop (Loop)

By default, the algorithm tries to assign the times for the generated itineraries starting with the closest stop on the particular line/direction.

However, on loop routes it can happen that the closest stop that yields results is on the direction that sends the passenger around the loop, rather than one that is a little farther away but would provide much quicker itinerary.

Setting this parameter to 1 (that is, on) makes the algorithm generate solutions that may be in the same (scheduled) direction but not necessarily the closest stop.

To turn this parameter off, set the value at 0.

0

X

Optimize Itineraries by Trip (Pattern)

When this parameter is set to 1 (that is, on), the algorithm generates solutions that may not start with the closest time but rather searches all patterns until the best solution is found.

To turn this parameter off, set the value at 0.

0

X

Accessibility

This parameter determines the accessibility required for the trip plan.

Accessibility types are defined in the FX - Accessibility ancillary data screen.

0

X

Lines

This parameter lets you specify which transit lines should be used or avoided in the solutions generated for the particular request.

When you click the down arrow in the Value field, the Lines Selection dialog box opens.

Selecting a check box next to a line produces the following settings for the algorithm:

Suppressed: A red X tells the system not to consider solutions which include the suppressed line and direction combinations.
This line is denoted with a minus symbol (-)-) in the Value field.
Required: A black check mark tells the system to consider solutions from the line as long as the solutions include all of the desired and required lines.
These lines are denoted with a plus symbol (+) in the Value field.
Desired: A check mark with a grey background tells the system to consider solutions which include at least one of the desired or required line and direction combinations.
These lines are denoted with an asterisk (*) symbol in the Value field.

[None]

X

Modes of Transportation

Provides the user the ability to include or exclude specific modes of transportation (for example, exclude Rail).

You can add the Modes of Transportation parameter to the Step Sets in CTM Parameters.

Bus[+],

Demand[+], Ferry[+],

Flex[+], MOBMGT[+], PROJMAIN[+],

Rail[+]

X

Personal Mode of Transportation for Entire Trip

Allows you to select the mode of transportation that the client uses for an entire trip.

From the Value drop-down list, select the appropriate mode of transportation.

[None]

Default Passenger Type

Determines which predefined passenger type is the default value on the request tab.

This passenger type fare is the one shown in the Fare column of the Details tab.

Passenger types are defined in Faring/Fare Types ancillary data.

[None]

X

Default Itinerary Sort

Determines which sort order is the default for the parameter set.

This parameter works in conjunction with the sort icons (By Time, By Walking Distance, By Number of Transfers, and By Lowest Fare).

That is, when you select the corresponding icon in the toolbar, this parameter value changes and vice versa. When you select another sort order in the Parameters tab, you can see the corresponding sort icon activated.

Duration (By Time)

X

Step Set Name

The name of the step set that controls the number of steps performed for the particular search as well as their order and the parameters associated with them.

[None]

X

Accessibility at Origin

This determines the predefined accessibility type that will be applied as the default to the origin stop on the Request tab. For example, if the stop is equipped with a bike rack.

You may choose None.

[None]

Accessibility at Destination

This determines the predefined accessibility type that will be applied as the default for the destination on the Request tab.

You may choose None.

[None]

Min Stop Distance (Origin)

The minimum travel distance needed to get from the origin to the departure bus stop.

0

Min Stop Distance (Destination)

The minimum travel distance needed to get from the destination stop to the final destination.

0