OperatingDay¶

Status¶

Normative

Definition¶

An OperatingDay represents one specific calendar date as an operational day for public transport service.

It provides the dated operational context in which scheduled or exceptional transport service is interpreted.

An OperatingDay is distinct from a DayType. A DayType classifies kinds of days, whereas an OperatingDay identifies one particular operational date.

Identity¶

The semantic identity of an OperatingDay is established by the operational calendar date within the applicable transport or service-calendar context.

An OperatingDay remains the same semantic instance when:

the set of services operating on that date changes;
additional or cancelled DatedVehicleJourneys are introduced;
a different DayType classification is assigned;
operational observations are received; or
real-time updates modify the state of journeys on that day.

A different operational calendar date represents a different OperatingDay.

Where more than one service-calendar scope exists for the same civil date, the applicable profile shall define the additional scope needed to disambiguate OperatingDay identity.

Motivation¶

Public transport planning distinguishes recurring service patterns from the actual dated operation of those patterns.

A DayType describes a recurring logical classification such as weekday, Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or another transport-relevant category.

An OperatingDay provides the concrete date to which such classifications and service-calendar rules are applied.

This distinction allows SCRA to represent dated journeys independently from their recurring timetable definitions.

Characteristics¶

An OperatingDay:

represents one specific operational date;
may be assigned one or more DayType classifications according to the applicable calendar model;
exists within a ServiceCalendar or equivalent calendar-resolution context;
may contain or be referenced by multiple DatedVehicleJourneys;
is independent of the real-time state of those journeys; and
shall not be treated as equivalent to a recurring DayType.

Relationships¶

DayType¶

An OperatingDay may be associated with an applicable DayType.

The DayType describes the logical classification of the day; the OperatingDay identifies the actual operational date.

Assigning or changing a DayType classification does not change the identity of the OperatingDay.

ServiceCalendar¶

An OperatingDay may be resolved within one ServiceCalendar.

The ServiceCalendar provides the recurring validity rules, exception dates, or other calendar semantics used to determine which service definitions apply to the OperatingDay.

A ServiceCalendar is not itself an OperatingDay and shall not replace the dated identity of the operational date.

DatedVehicleJourney¶

One OperatingDay may be referenced by zero or more DatedVehicleJourneys.

Each DatedVehicleJourney represents a planned journey occurrence in the context of one specific OperatingDay.

A DatedVehicleJourney may be added, cancelled, replaced, or otherwise altered without changing the identity of the OperatingDay.

Typical Properties¶

Typical semantic properties may include:

calendarDate;
localDate;
serviceDate;
timezone;
calendarScope; and
source identifier.

These names are informative examples only unless separately defined by a normative SCRA vocabulary declaration or an applicable profile.

Conformance Requirements¶

A conforming OperatingDay representation shall:

identify one specific operational calendar date;
remain semantically distinct from DayType;
provide sufficient scope to disambiguate the date where multiple calendar contexts are applicable; and
be usable as the dated operational context for DatedVehicleJourney.

Where a ServiceCalendar is used to resolve service applicability, the mapping shall preserve the difference between:

recurring calendar rules;
calendar exceptions;
the resolved OperatingDay; and
the DatedVehicleJourneys operating on that day.

Origin¶

The concept is harmonized with public-transport scheduling models that distinguish recurring day classifications from dated operational days.

SCRA uses OperatingDay as the canonical dated service-operation context.

Mapping Guidance¶

GTFS Static¶

GTFS does not publish an explicit OperatingDay entity.

An OperatingDay is resolved from a concrete service date together with the calendar semantics of the applicable GTFS service.

For a GTFS service, the mapping shall evaluate the combined effect of:

calendar.txt, where present, for recurring weekday validity;
calendar_dates.txt for added or removed service dates; and
the target service_date or equivalent concrete operational date.

The resolved operational date may then be represented as an OperatingDay.

A GTFS service_id shall not by itself be treated as an OperatingDay. It identifies a service-calendar pattern or service-date rule set rather than one specific operational date.

Likewise, a DayType inferred from recurring weekday or holiday semantics shall not replace the OperatingDay.

GTFS-Realtime¶

Where GTFS-Realtime identifies a dated journey using start_date, service-date context, or an equivalent dated discriminator, that information may contribute to resolution of the applicable OperatingDay.

The mapping shall first resolve the dated operational context and then relate the corresponding DatedVehicleJourney to that OperatingDay.

Real-time updates shall not change OperatingDay identity merely because journey status, delay, assignment, or prediction data changes.

Mapping Summary¶

Source concept	SCRA semantic mapping
GTFS concrete service date	OperatingDay date basis
GTFS `calendar.txt`	Recurring service-calendar validity
GTFS `calendar_dates.txt`	Added/removed service-date exceptions
GTFS `service_id`	Source identifier for calendar/service validity, not OperatingDay identity by itself
GTFS-Realtime `start_date` or equivalent dated discriminator	Input to OperatingDay resolution
SCRA DayType	Logical classification applicable to OperatingDay
SCRA ServiceCalendar	Calendar context used to resolve OperatingDay
SCRA DatedVehicleJourney	Planned journey occurrence on OperatingDay