Transportation Glossary
Term Description

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. Often referred to as Dial-a-Ride, this service allows individual passengers to request transportation from a specific location to another specific location at a particular time. This service may or may not mandate advanced reservations. It does not follow a particular route, but travels throughout a designated service area or community transporting passengers on a door-to-door basis, a curb-to-curb basis, or other specified service provision. The following types of operations fall under this category of transit services (as long as they are not on a scheduled fixed route basis): many origins to many destinations; many origins to one destination; one origin to many destinations; and one origin to one destination. The vehicle typically may be dispatched to pick up several passengers at different pick-up points before taking them to their respective destinations and may even be interrupted en route to these destinations to pick up additional passengers. (See Paratransit)