{{no footnotes, date=May 2014
Schedule delay is a term in transport modelling which refers to a difference between a desired time of arrival or departure and the actual time. Despite the use of "delay", it can refer to a difference in either the early or late direction.
The most common example is that of having a fixed work start time: if someone starts work at 0900 but actually arrives at 0850, they are incurring a schedule delay of 10 minutes. Alternative examples might include
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
- if a bus is scheduled to depart from a stop at 20-minute intervals (e.g. 0800, 0820, 0840) and a person wishes to begin their journey between those intervals (e.g. at 0815), they incur a schedule delay through having to retime their departure from the desired 0815 point to the bus departure time of 0820.
Schedule delay can be measured as a
utility
As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...
(or, rather, a disutility). The Small model of scheduling has the disutility of schedule delay decrease linearly towards zero as the actual arrival (or departure) time approaches the desired time. The disutility of schedule delay for a late arrival or departure also increase linearly, but Small hypothesises that there can also be a fixed penalty component of schedule delay on the "late" side - e.g. arriving late for work is always bad, even if it is only slightly late.
See also
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Transportation planning
Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...
*
Mohring effect The Mohring effect is the observation that, if the frequency of a transit service (e.g., buses per hour) increases with demand, then a rise in demand shortens the waiting times of passengers at stops and stations. Because waiting time forms part of ...
American Economic Review
The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...