TRANSIT GLOSSARY
Above Grade	The location of a structure or guideway above the surface of the ground (also known as elevated or aerial).
Accessible Service	Buses operating in regular service with wheelchair lifts, kneeling functions or other devices that permit disabled passengers to use the service.
Accessibility	(1) The extent to which facilities are barrier free and useable by disabled persons, including wheelchair users. (2) A measure of the ability or ease of all people to travel among various origins and destinations.
Alight	To get off a transit vehicle.
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	Low-polluting fuels used to propel a vehicle instead of diesel or gasoline. Examples include methanol, ethanol, propane or compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, and electricity.
AM Peak	The morning commute period, about two hours, in which the greatest movement of passengers occurs, generally from home to work; the portion of the morning service period where the greatest level of ridership is experienced and service provided. Synonyms: AM Rush, Early Peak, Morning Peak, Morning Rush Hour
American Public Transportation Association (APTA)	The national, nonprofit trade association representing the public transit industry. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services, and by improving those services to meet national energy, environmental, and financial concerns. APTA members include public bus, rapid transit and commuter rail systems, and the private organizations responsible for planning, design, construction, finance, supplying and operating transit systems. In addition, government agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, state departments of transportation, academic institutions, and trade publications are also part of our membership.
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)	A civil rights 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.
Apportionment	A federal budgetary term that refers to a statutorily prescribed division or assignment of funds. It is based on prescribed formulas in the law and consists of dividing authorized obligation authority for a specific program among transit systems.
Appropriation	A federal budgetary term that refers to an act of Congress that permits federal agencies to incur obligations and make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. An appropriation act is the most common means of providing budget authority, but in some cases the authorization legislation itself provides the budget authority.
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.
At Grade	The location of a structure or guideway at the same level as the ground surface.
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 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.
Articulated bus	A 60-foot three-axle bus. These buses have an "accordion" section in the middle that allows the bus to bend and flex (articulate). The articulated bus has more passenger capacity than standard 40-foot buses.
Average speed	The total miles of revenue service divided by the total hours of revenue service. Average speed includes time traveling and time waiting for passengers plus any other delays.
Base period	The period between the morning and evening peak periods when transit service is generally scheduled on a constant interval. Also known as "off-peak period."
Block	A vehicle schedule, the daily assignment for an individual bus. One or more runs can work a block. A driver schedule is known as a "run."
Board	To go onto or into a transit vehicle.
Bus	Rubber-tired vehicles operating on fixed routes and schedules on roadways. Buses are powered by diesel, gasoline, battery or alternative fuel engines contained within the vehicle.
Bus Bay	Bus berthing area in a facility such as a transit center or rail station.
Bus Hours	The total hours of travel by bus, including both revenue service and deadhead travel.
Bus Lane	A street or highway lane intended primarily for buses, either all day or during specified periods, but sometimes also used by carpools meeting requirements set out in traffic laws.
Bus Shelter	A building or other structure constructed near a bus stop, to provide seating and protection from the weather for the convenience of waiting passengers.
Bus Stop	A place where passengers can board or alight from the bus, usually identified by a sign.
Bus Miles	The total miles of travel by bus, including both revenue and deadhead travel.
Bus Turnout	Cutout in the roadside to permit a transit vehicle to dwell at a curb.
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. There are no busways in Honolulu.
Capital	Long-term assets, such as property, buildings, roads, rail lines, and vehicles.
Capital Costs	Costs of long-term assets of a public transit system such as property, buildings, vehicles, etc.
Capital Improvement Program (CIP)	The list of capital projects for a five to seven year programming period.
Capital Project	Construction and/or procurement of district assets, such as transit centers, transit vehicles and track.
Car Pool	An arrangement where two or more people share the use and cost of privately owned automobiles in traveling to and from pre-arranged destinations together.
Central Business District (CBD)	An area of a city that contains the greatest concentration of commercial activity, the "Downtown".
Car house	Bus garage – Kalihi Bus Facility, Pearl City Bus Facility
Contract Authority	A federal budgetary term that refers to a form of budget authority permitting obligations to be incurred in advance of appropriations. Advance obligations, however, have been limited by the appropriations committees with obligation limitations.
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
Crush Load	The maximum passenger capacity of a vehicle, in which there is little or no space between passengers (i.e., the passengers are touching one another).
Deadhead	There are two types of deadhead or non-revenue bus travel time: (1) Bus travel to or from the garage and a terminus point where revenue service begins or ends; (2) Travel between the end of service on one route to the beginning of another.
Deadhead operation	Non-revenue time when a bus is not carrying passengers. Usually this refers to the trip between the home division garage to the point where the bus enters or leaves its route.
Dedicated Funding Source	A source of monies which by law is available for use only to support a specific purpose, and cannot be diverted to other uses.
Demand Responsive	Non-fixed-route service utilizing vans or buses with passengers boarding and alighting at pre-arranged times at any location within the system's service area.
Disabled	With respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such an individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment
Discretionary	Subject to the discretion of legislators or an administrator. The federal Section 5309 New Starts Program is an example of a discretionary program
Dispatcher	An individual who combines bus operators, run assignments, and buses that provide transportation service to passengers
Downtime	A period during which a vehicle is inoperative because of repairs or maintenance.
Dwell Time	The scheduled time a vehicle or train is allowed to discharge and take on passengers at a stop, including opening and closing doors.
Earmark	A federal budgetary term that refers to the specific designation by Congress that part of a more general lump-sum appropriation be used for a particular project; the earmark can be designated as a minimum and/or maximum dollar amount.
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)	A comprehensive study of likely environmental impacts resulting from major federally-assisted projects; statements are required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Exclusive Right-of-way	A highway or other facility that can only be used by buses or other transit vehicles.
Fare Box	A device that accepts the coins, bills, tickets and tokens given by passengers as payment for rides.
Farebox Recovery Ratio	Measure of the proportion of operating expenses covered by passenger fares; found by dividing fare box revenue by total operating expenses for each mode and/or systemwide.
Fare Box Revenue	Value of cash, tickets, tokens and pass receipts given by passengers as payment for rides; excludes charter revenue.
Fare Collection System	The method by which fares are collected and accounted for in a public transportation system.
Fare Elasticity	The extent to which ridership responds to fare increases or decreases.
Fare Structure	The system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various passengers using a transit vehicle at any given time.
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)	Formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA); FTA is the agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation which administers the federal program of financial assistance to public transit.
Feeder line	A bus line that services neighborhoods and crosses trunk lines offering transfer opportunities.
Fixed Cost	An indirect cost that remains relatively constant irrespective of the level of operational activity.
Fixed-Guideway System	A system of vehicles that can operate only on its own guideway constructed for that purpose (e.g., rapid rail, light rail). Federal usage in funding legislation also includes exclusive right-of-way bus operations, trolley coaches and ferryboats as "fixed guideway" transit.
Fixed Route	Service provided on a repetitive, fixed-schedule basis along a specific route with vehicles stopping to pick up and deliver passengers to specific locations; each fixed-route trip serves the same origins and destinations, unlike demand responsive and taxicabs.
Four-point securement system	An onboard securement system for wheelchairs, three-wheel and four-wheel scooters. The system incorporates four seatbelt type straps that attach to the frame of a mobility device as a way to keep it from moving or rolling while on the bus.
Frequency	The quantity of service on a route. The amount of time scheduled between consecutive buses on a given route segment; in other words, how often the bus comes (also known as Headway).
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 City and County of Honolulu from July 1 to June 30.
Garage	The place where revenue vehicles are stored and maintained and from where they are dispatched and recovered for the delivery of scheduled service.
GILLIG	A manufacturer of transit buses.
Head sign	The sign above the front windshield of a bus describing the route number or letter its name, and destination.
Headway	Time intervals between vehicles moving in the same direction on a particular route.
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)	Vehicles that can carry two or more persons. Examples of high occupancy vehicles are a bus, vanpool and carpool. These vehicles sometimes have exclusive traffic lanes called "HOV lanes," "busways," "transitways" or "commuter lanes."
HOV	See High Occupancy Vehicle.
Hybrid bus	A bus that runs on hybrid propulsion (fossil fuel combined with electric power).
Incident	Traffic or passenger accidents that include collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians or fixed object, and passenger accidents while boarding, on-board, or disembarking the transit vehicle.
Intermodal	Switching from one form of transportation to another.
Intermodal Facility	A buil