The Norwegian public transport stops are structured as a two-, or three-level element. The most fundamental element is the Quay, which represents the actual position where a public transport vehicle stops to board- or alight passengers. The next two levels form the connections between the Quays and carry information such as name, modality and tariff zones.
The Nordic NeTEx profile allows for more elements to be added to stop places. This guide covers only the most fundamental data points.
Element | What it does | |
|---|---|---|
Quay | Marks the exact position where a vehicle stops, and its equipment. | |
StopPlace | Connects nearby Quays into a single stop with a common name, and sometimes common facilities or equipment. | |
Multimodal StopPlace (or | Makes it possible to have two StopPlaces with different modalities connected as a single element. |
A fundamental principle
The structure of a stop should always reflect the actual conditions and physical reality of the stop. Any fictitious data is disallowed in order to keep the data generic, sustainable and predictable. This means the stops must be placed where they actually are rather than making adjustments to suit external needs.
Placing elements on the map
Quay
The positioning of stops is regulated by Håndbok N801.
The Quay should be placed to correspond as precisely as possible with the estimated boarding position of a vehicle, usually on the front door of the vehicle or the exit point of a sea vessel. For a bus, this point is primarily the edge of the pavement or platform at the tactile paving mark. When no tactile paving exists the position is estimated. When the stop has no pavement the general position is estimated based on how the bus may fit into the existing space, placement of signs or shelters, or the otherwise most logical location to stop a bus along the road.
A precise placement reduces the need for future revisions of data and makes pedestrian routing more predictable.
For boats and aircraft, the end of the gangway or ramp to the vehicle in question is used.
For modalities which do not have a specific point of boarding, a centered- or weighted point, is preferable as seen in reference to the access points of the stop.
StopPlace
The placement of the StopPlace element has no regulation but it is sensible to locate these on the centerline of the road to which its subordinate Quays belong. StopPlace can, for example, be used for icon placement in maps and placement in connection with the road centerline is therefore advantageous. In cases of a public transport terminal or other wider area which may be considered the same stop place a centered position is preferable, as experienced by the traveller.
Multimodal StopPlace
The position of this element should generally follow the same standards as the StopPlace. It can also be a good idea to not place these elements directly on top of a StopPlace since they may then block each other from being clicked on the map.
Parking positions
A centered position for these elements is preferable. For very large areas, such as an airport parking, a positing near the access point to the airport - or splitting the parking into several objects may be useful.
Naming a stop
The naming of stops is regulated by Håndbok N801.
It is always a good idea to give each stop a unique name which works in all contexts. That is, the name should work equally well in a local, as a national context. This means names like “The Hospital” is considered bad since it only works in a local context. However, not all names can be given a nationally unique name. In these cases - usually for the smaller stops - a simple rule of “unique within the local administrative unit” is used, allowing the differentiation of stops to be made by showing the customer the stops municipality and county as part of the journey planning service.
For the same reason, including the name of municipality and county in the name of the stop is not allowed.
When combining stops into Multimodal StopPlaces it is preferable to make the parent stop name equal, or more general than the names of the child-stops.
When a stop with a name which is too general exists together with other stops referencing the same name, for example, “Vikersund” and “Vikersund fire station”, it is preferable to change the first stop name into a more specific and descriptive name, or sometimes to make both names equal and combine them into a multimodal stop (assuming they have physical proximity).
Description field on StopPlace
The use of the description field differs between StopPlace and Quay. For StopPlace it should be seen as an extension of the name field. So if the stop name is “Main Street” the description field can be “by the harbour”. For this reason, it is advised to begin this field in lowercase letters.
Alternative names
It is possible to add alternative names to stops which can assist the customer to find the stop they are looking for. Since the alternative name is usually not displayed to the customer it is important that the names are closely linked.
Examples
Quality | Name of stop place | Alternative name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
Good | Nationaltheatret | Nasjonalteatret | The unusual spelling of the stop is assisted by the often presumed spelling. |
Uneccesary | Fjellveien | Fjellvegen | The geocoder is flexible enough that small variations in spelling can be overlooked. |
Bad | Fjellveien | Dalsveien | Applying a completely different name will cause confusion as for why the name Fjellveien would appear when searching for Dalsveien. Remember that the customer can’t know what you were thinking of when adding the name. |
It is advisable to use alternative names as sparsely as possible, and only when it adds value for the end user.
Label
For airports, the location portion of the airport name is added as the type: Label.
Translation
For stops where a translation of the stop name is commonly used or important due to extensive tourism, it is possible to add name values for a number of other languages. This can also be used for stops outside of Norway.
Please note that it is possible to add translations for all three alternative name types.
All alternative names added, regardless of type or translation will be searchable in the Entur geocoder which will return the name of the stop place.
Quay
The Quay element has three fields, public code, private code and Description.
PublicCode | Must be a code (not words) | Used when a position (quay) is marked with a code. See more below. |
PrivateCode | Used freely by the local authority for any purpose. This field is not communicated to the public. | |
Description | Should start with a lowercase word which describes the location of the quay. Only use when extra information is needed. | Used to extend the StopPlace name. See naming rules above. |
Public code
This field should only be filled out when the Quay has a clearly visible (from a distance) code (number or letter) marked on the infrastructure of the platform which is distinct from the other platforms. If several platforms cohabit on the same code this should be clearly visible to the customer.
When the Quay has no clearly visible coding the PublicCode field must be left empty. Inot sufficient to have a code indicated in small print on the timetable board. |  |
A large print letter or number is concidered sufficient but not optimal. The reason is that a time table board is specific to the owner of that board. When multiple operator serve the stop this may cause confusion. |  |
Clear large print markings on the wall or roof of the shelter is in full complience. |  |
A free standing large print sign on the platform is in full complience. |  |