Glossary of Transit Terms

Aerial Tramway
Unpowered passenger vehicles suspended from a system of aerial cables and propelled by separate cables attached to the vehicle suspension system.  The cable system is powered by engines or motors at a central location not on board the vehicle.

Automated Guideway Transit
Guided transit vehicles operating singly or multi-car trains with a fully automated system (no crew on transit units).  Service may be on a fixed schedule or in response to a passenger-activated call button.  Automated guideway transit includes personal rapid transit, group rapid transit and peoplemover systems.

Bus
Rubber-tired vehicles operating on fixed routes and schedules on roadways. Buses are powered by diesel, gasoline, battery or alternative fuel engines contained within the vehicle.

Commuter Rail
Urban passenger train service for local short-distance travel operating between a central city and adjacent suburbs. Service must be operated on a regular basis by or under contract with a transit operator for the purpose of transporting passengers within urbanized areas, or between urbanized areas and outlying areas.  Such rail service, using either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled railroad passenger cars, is generally characterized by multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, railroad employment practices and usually only one or two stations in the central business district.  It does not include heavy rail rapid transit or light rail/street car transit service.  Intercity rail service is excluded, except for that portion of such service that is operated by or under contract with a public transit agency for predominately commuter services.  Predominately commuter services means that for any given trip segment (i.e., distance between any two stations), over 50 percent of the average daily ridership travels on the train at least three times a week.  Only the predominately commuter service portion of the intercity route is eligible for inclusion when determining commuter rail route miles.

Ferryboat
Vessels carrying passengers and/or vehicles over a body of water.  The vessels are generally steam or diesel-powered conventional ferry vessels.

Inclined Plane
Special tramway type of vehicles operating up and down slopes on rails via a cable mechanism so that passenger seats remain horizontal while the undercarriage (truck) is angled parallel to the slope.

Monorail
Guided transit vehicles operating on or suspended from a single rail, beam, or tube.  Monorail vehicles usually operate in trains.

Light Rail
Lightweight passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two-car, trains) on fixed rails in right-of-way that is not separated from other traffic for much of the way.  Light rail vehicles are driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or a pantograph.

Heavy Rail
High-speed, passenger rail cars operating singly or in trains of two or more cars on fixed rails in separate rights-of-way from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded.