How to edit service in existing ND

Question

Hi,

I'd like to know if it's possible to edit a gtfs feed and then rerun analysis (e.g., service area polygons, travel time statistics) without reconfiguring the whole ND.

For example, I've created a gtfs feed and ND from scratch that is working well, but I'd like to add weekend service to some routes (same schedule as weekday).

It's straightforward to just update the trips.txt file from mtwtf to mtwtfss, but I'm not sure how I would go about editing the GTFS.sql file so that I can avoid the process of creating iterative versions of my ND starting from the script 1) Generate Transit Lines and Stops and a SQL database.  Is it something I can do in ArcCatalog?

Thanks,

Hilary

Melinda Morang · Accepted Answer

Unfortunately, no, you have to re-create your network dataset from scratch.  It would be pretty difficult to edit the GTFS.sql file reliably, and I wouldn't recommend that you try.

If you have ArcMap 10.6 or higher, you can use the Create Template From Network Dataset and Create Network Dataset From Template tools to make an xml template from your existing network dataset, and then use that template to create a new network with all the same settings.  This is much easier than going through the network dataset creation wizard manually.

Once you have created your new network with the weekend service turned on, you could actually turn it off again without re-creating the network.  You can configure parameters on your transit travel time impedance attribute which can exclude specific trips or routes from the analysis.  So, you could put in your weekend trips in that parameter, and they would be ignored for the analysis at solve time.  The user's guide describes how to do this.