This is where one can find all the special eligibility cases that have been determined. These cases are often the backbones of new eligiblity rules to further standardize the Eliot Deviation Index.
Case #1: Tiger Transit 6, Princeton, NJ - September 9, 2022
This case has been reversed as of January 23, 2023. However, the route in question has no proof of current operation to satisfy Rule 5.
This route, the Tiger Transit 6 – it seems to currently operate, however, it is not listed on the Tiger Transit or Princeton University websites – is a special case among known bus routes. This route starts in the west side of Princeton, goes through downtown and up to Griggs Farm and Redding Circle along a one-way loop, before returning towards downtown, serving some of the same stops as on the trip up to Griggs Farm. The route “ends” downtown, not too far from where it originally began. The route operates in this one direction only, and there is no return trip going in the opposite direction – it appears as if the route ends along the return journey to the beginning, as it may return non-revenue (or revenue) to the first stop along the route, creating a loop. This route has been declared ineligible for ending on the return journey, with no trip in the opposite direction.
January 23, 2023 - This case is reversed. Sufficient criteria has been created in later cases (Rules 3a and 3b) to handle situations where the route turns around and has a return journey back in the other direction. If someone can prove the current operation of the route, it can be calculated for an Eliot Deviation Index – which certainly will not be the original claimed value of 16.6.
Case #2: Unitrans D, Davis, CA - September 13, 2022
This route, the Unitrans D, has a large looping section at the west end of the route, where it turns around and returns to the Silo. In previous situations, the EDI measurement for these routes would end after serving all the stops around the looping portion, however, the looping portion is too large to give a fair EDI for the route. A new solution has been created for these kinds of terminals, which are common on bus routes nationwide, in which the route for the EDI calculation will end at the midpoint of the one-way looping portion. This makes sense under Rule 3, as the end of the one-way looping section can be taken as ending on the return journey back to the other end.
November 14, 2022 - This has been officially made a rule as Rule 3a, which is the following: If the route ends in a one-way loop, the route, regardless of what the operating agency states, is declared to end at the stop located closest to the midpoint around this one-way section.
Case #3: RIPTA 200s, Rhode Island - September 19, 2022
In various parts of Rhode Island, RIPTA operates “Flex” routes, which are routes that have a fixed-route portion, but can be deviated to other areas within a zone by request. Like other fixed bus routes, these routes have time points and timetables with scheduled trips along the fixed-route portion. However, these routes are ineligible for an EDI as the route can change with every trip one takes. The route is never consistent and makes unique deviations with every trip.
Case #4: Local Route, Kiryas Joel, NY - October 13, 2022
The local bus route around the village of Kiryas Joel is confusing. As I write this, I still have no clue exactly how it is operated. It goes whichever way it would like to. It is routed like a drivers education lesson, taking every turn imaginable. This may not be a loop, but this is hard for anyone to follow exactly which way it goes, where it starts, and where it ends according to the other rules and guidelines on calculation. This is most similar to the Blue Route in Quincy, IL, which on September 26, was determined to be neither eligible or ineligible until I have a ride on it. However, both routes are declared ineligible with a new rule.
Rule 4: The line must look like a transit line and actually make sense.
Case #5: CTtransit 471, Naugatuck, CT - November 14, 2022
The 471 is one of three bus routes that serve the town of Naugatuck, Connecticut. The route starts on Church Street in front of Naugatuck Green after the bus previously made a run on the 473. The route travels west, goes around a one-way loop, and returns back downtown, ending on Old Firehouse Road not too far from Naugatuck Green, and the bus continues as the 472. The route begins and ends on different streets due to Church Street being a one-way street, and due to the interlining with the 472 and 473. However, it is argued that the route travels in only one-direction, as the route begins and ends at different stops. Under Rule 3, and the Unitrans D decision (Case #2, September 13, 2022), the route for measurement purposes ends at the stop closest to the midpoint of the one-way loop. The end point of the route isn’t one particular stop which it returns to on the return journey, but it is a general area where the route returns to.
This has been officially made a rule as Rule 3b: The route travels in two distinct directions, which split at the terminal of the route, according to Rule 3a calculations. The end of the route in some cases, especially Rule 3a cases, is not just one stop, yet is a geographic area smaller than the area covered by the entire route. For this to be the terminal of the route, the route must, on the return journey, exit the terminal geographic area in the same direction, along the same or nearby path in which it entered from.
Case #6: RIPTA 1, Warwick - Pawtucket, RI - January 23, 2023
Originally, RIPTA’s 1 was calculated as one long route between TF Green Airport and Market Basket in South Attleboro. However, since this was calculated a while back, many things have changed, and other routes with multiple variants have been calculated multiple times, with one calculation per variant. With the opening of the new Pawtucket/Central Falls Transit Center, the 1 has been recalculated as two different routes with separate EDIs. While it has always been a practice to only accept routes that are currently in operation, this has now been made a rule.
Rule 5: The line must be a currently operating service pattern at the time of calculation.
Case #7: CTtransit 282, East Haven, CT - April 15, 2023
The CTtransit 282 is a mostly looping route in East Haven, with only a short section by Walmart and Lowe’s being two-way. Case #2 (September 13, 2022) and Case #5 (November 14, 2022) created Rules 3a and 3b, to handle determining where exactly a route terminates for the purposes of EDI calculation. There are only two comparable bus routes to the CTtransit 282, the MBTA 201 and 202, which operate as a pair, going around a looping section in opposite directions before returning to Fields Corner station. These two routes were both determined to be eligible for an EDI, as they travel from Fields Corner to the Adams Village area to the south. The CTtransit 282 does similar, traveling to the neighborhood to the south from Walmart and Lowe’s. The full version of Rule 3b states that “the route must, on the return journey, exit the terminal geographic area in the same direction, along the same or nearby path in which it entered from.” The 282 both enters and leaves the shopping plaza from the east, and enters and leaves the neighborhood from the north, as both the neighborhood and the shopping plaza are considered “terminal areas.” As a result, the 282 is declared eligible under Rule 3b.
Case #8: CCCTA 602, Walnut Creek, CA - May 25, 2023
The CCCTA (Central Costa County Transit Authority) 602 is actually a one-way school tripper that was brought up to me due to its massive out-and-back deviation serving the neighborhoods between the Walnut Creek BART station and the Walnut Creek Intermediate School, which aren’t located too far from each other. The issue? It operated in one direction only, and challenged Rule 3b, as there was no reverse direction for it to travel in. Rule 3b currently states that the line must travel in two distinguishable directions, however, this should be changed to accommodate one-way routes such as school trippers. The CCCTA clearly communicates where the 602 runs through a map available on their website, and it travels between two clearly marked start and end locations. The 602, along with other one-way routes, have been deemed eligible, and Rule 3b has been updated to read “Lines must travel between two distinct terminals.” The definition of a terminal still follows that from Case #5 (November 14, 2022).
Case #9: Greene County Transit 706, Catskill - Durham - Earlton, NY - May 31, 2023
The 706 is a lengthy and rural bus service operated by Greene County Transit, whose service area is due south of Albany, New York. This route starts at the Price Chopper in Catskill, travels northwest through Cairo to Durham, turns east towards Earlton, then back south to Catskill, where it ends about 500 feet south of the Price Chopper. While the route has a morning trip going one way around, and an afternoon trip going the opposite way around the loop, it is very similar to a loop. Rule 3b, through Case #5 (November 14, 2022), introduced the concept of “terminal areas,” which is the area around the terminal that the line terminates in, and is different from the actual stop, as the supposed end to the 706 is 500 feet away from the start. The line starts at the beginning, and then ends in the same terminal area containing the Price Chopper. This makes it ineligible by the updated Rule 3b from Case #8 (May 25, 2023). However, it can be further argued that the endpoint of the 706 is a different location, and therefore a different terminal area (unlike Case #5’s reasoning, where downtown Naugatuck was the eastern terminal area). In this case, the 706 is still ineligible under Rule 3 (not 3a or 3b), as the ending terminal area is along the way to the starting terminal area. Therefore, the 706 has been deemed ineligible and is a loop.