About Runcutting

Runcutting is the process of developing or cutting runs from a group of vehicle blocks. Runs are composed of complete blocks or segments of blocks.

When blocking in Trapeze FX, the objective is to assign the least number of vehicles to provide a desired level of service. When runcutting, the objective is to cut block pieces to form runs for the fewest number of operators required to operate the service.

Before creating runs, familiarize yourself with:

  • The resources of your transit site such as the number of available regular and part-time operators for a sign-up period
  • The policies and union agreements of your transit site applicable to runcutting such as those on breaks, reliefs, and travel times

    Runcutting relies on the work and costing/pay rules of your transit site. For example, some transit sites pay travel time to and from a relief location while other sites that do not do so may pay overtime after eight hours of work.

    In general, runcutting involves the following steps:

    1. Check your block data integrity.
    2. Update relief events.
    3. Identify missing travels.
    4. Define your work and costing/pay rules.
    5. Cut the runs.
    6. Ensure that the runs are legal.
    7. Improve the runs to the level most favorable to your transit site and the union.