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Transit Planner or a consultant study?
A consultant study and an in-house tool solve overlapping problems in different ways. Both have a place. Here is what changes when the analysis runs in your own hands, and where an outside team is still the better call.
Side by side
| Topic | A consultant study | Transit Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Turnaround | Weeks to months: scope, contract, data hand-off, then analysis. | Same day. You draw a change and the costs, who’s affected and the equity numbers update as you work. |
| Iterations | Each new scenario is usually a new task order. | Unlimited. Try ten versions of a change in an afternoon. |
| Cost | A fee per study, which varies with scope. | A flat annual subscription, however many studies you run. |
| The method | Lives in the consultant’s model and their report. | Documented and in your workspace, the same method every time, re-runnable by your staff. |
| Your data | You send GTFS and demographics and wait for results. | Your own GTFS and Census data, analyzed in the browser, exportable anytime. |
| After delivery | A PDF and a presentation. | A living workspace you keep using for the next change. |
Engagements vary. The consultant column describes the common case.
When a consultant is still the right call
A deep one-off study
A comprehensive operational analysis (COA) or a full network redesign is a large, one-time project. A dedicated team can give it sustained attention.
Specialized modeling
Transit Planner covers cost, who a change affects, and access. A question that needs another method calls for a specialist.
Extra hands in a crunch
A grant deadline or a busy hearing season can outrun a small staff. Outside capacity is a sound answer.
An independent analysis
Some decisions call for analysis that someone outside the agency produced. A third-party study provides that.
Transit Planner sits alongside this work. Its exports (GTFS, reports and maps) hand off cleanly to a consultant, so an outside team can start from your current network and numbers.
Keep the everyday question in-house
Say your board asks what a 20-minute midday headway on Route 12 would cost, and who it affects. That is an afternoon of work in your own workspace. A full network redesign is a different kind of question, and it deserves a team built for it.
Save the outside study for the big redesign. Which questions on your list this year need a study, and which need an afternoon?
Frequently asked questions
- Can we use both?
- Yes. Many agencies run their own day-to-day analysis in Transit Planner and still commission a consultant for a full network redesign. The tool’s GTFS and report exports hand off to that work.
- Is this as rigorous as a consultant’s equity analysis?
- It runs the FTA Circular 4702.1B method on your own GTFS and Census data, and the method is documented publicly. Your counsel and your FTA regional office remain the authorities on what your agency must file.
- What if we don’t have a GIS or modeling specialist?
- Transit Planner is built for planners, not GIS specialists. You draw on a map; the costs, demographics and equity numbers come from that.
See it on your network in 15 minutes
We load your GTFS and walk through one real service change with you: the cost, who it affects, and the report. No sales script.