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 The following excerpt was taken from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 30, page 38. What is "blocking"? Blocking is the process of developing vehicle assignments. These assignments, or blocks, describe a series of trips that are "hooked" together and assigned to a single vehicle. The vehicle trips that are linked together as part of the block may cover more than one route and may also involve more than one operator during the course of the vehicle workday. However, the block refers to the work assignment for only a single vehicle for a single service workday. Why is blocking important? Blocking is a critical element in the scheduling process because it serves as the basis for both the costs associated with operating the revenue service vehicle as well as influencing the cost associated with work assignments for operators.
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