Scenario analysis Agency

A scenario is a saved set of routes you want to look at together — "current network", "proposed redesign", "rapid corridors only". Save the routes currently shown as a named scenario, then switch between scenarios from the header. The map and every analysis panel — Cost, Coverage, Title VI, Stop analysis — re-scope to the active scenario, so you can compare two networks without deleting anything.

Scenarios are an Agency feature. On the free and Pro plans the save control shows an upsell instead.

What it is

Service planning is comparative. You rarely ask "what does this network cost?" in isolation — you ask "what does the proposed network cost relative to today's?", or "how does coverage change if I drop the two lowest-ridership routes?". Doing that by hand means duplicating a feed, deleting routes, running the numbers, then doing it again for the other variant, and trying to keep the two sets of figures straight.

A scenario captures which routes are shown (and, by implication, which are hidden) as a named, switchable view. Nothing is deleted — the hidden routes are still in the feed, still exportable, still one click from coming back. What changes is the scope every analysis tool computes over: turn off a route and the Cost panel's totals, the Coverage population, the Title VI comparison, and the Stop analysis all drop that route's contribution. Save that view as "Network A", build a different view, save it as "Network B", and you can flip between the two and read the analysis side by side.

When to use it

• Comparing an existing network against a proposed redesign without maintaining two copies of the feed.
• Costing a "what if we cut these three routes?" scenario before taking it to the board.
• Showing a corridor study to stakeholders: "rapid routes only" vs. "the full local network".
• Isolating one operating division, one funding source, or one mode for a focused coverage or equity read.
• Walking through alternatives in a public meeting — flip scenarios live and let the panels re-tabulate.

Saving a scenario

Scenarios are built out of the Routes panel, where each route has a visibility toggle (the colour swatch). The workflow is:

1. Open the Routes panel in the left sidebar.
2. Toggle routes on and off until the map shows exactly the network you want to capture — turn off the routes you want excluded.
3. Click Save current view as scenario at the bottom of the panel. An inline field appears, pre-filled with a default name (Scenario 1, Scenario 2, …).
4. Type a meaningful name and press Enter (or click Save). Press Escape to cancel.

The scenario records the hidden-route set as it stands at save time. A scenario where nothing is hidden is "all routes"; a scenario with most routes hidden is a focused subset. You can save as many as you like — peak network, off-peak network, weekend network, three redesign options.

Scenarios are saved with the feed, so they persist across sessions (locally for anonymous editing, and to your account when you're signed in). The currently applied view does not persist — reopening a feed starts with all routes visible, and you pick a scenario from the switcher to re-scope.

Switching scenarios

Once at least one scenario exists, a scenario switcher appears in the editor's header bar (it stays hidden until you've saved one, so the default header tagline shows for feeds with no scenarios). The switcher's label tells you what you're looking at:

• The scenario name when the current visibility exactly matches a saved scenario.
• All routes when nothing is hidden and no saved scenario matches.
• Custom view when you've toggled routes by hand into a combination that isn't a saved scenario.

That label is derived from the live visibility, not stored separately — so a manual route toggle immediately reads as "Custom view" without any extra step, and re-matching a saved set snaps the label back to its name. Open the switcher to pick All routes or any saved scenario; picking one applies its hidden-route set instantly. You can also apply a scenario from the managed list in the Routes panel (below).

What re-scopes

Applying a scenario changes the active set of visible routes, and everything downstream follows from that single source of truth:

• The map. Hidden routes — and the stops served only by hidden routes — drop out of view.
• Cost estimation. Revenue hours, peak vehicles, and weekly/annual cost are computed over the visible routes only.
• Demographic coverage. Population, households, and workers near service are measured against the visible network's stops.
• Title VI analysis. The equity comparison runs over the visible routes — useful for testing how a proposed cut shifts the burden across demographic groups.
• Stop analysis. Spacing, service intensity, and consolidation candidates reflect only the stops the visible routes serve.

The scoping cascades from routes through trips and stop times down to stops, so a stop served exclusively by a hidden route disappears from every panel — but a stop shared with a still-visible route stays. When no routes are hidden, the panels compute over the full feed unchanged.

Managing scenarios

The Routes panel keeps a Saved scenarios list under the save control. Each entry offers three actions:

• Apply — click the scenario name to make it the active view. The currently applied scenario is highlighted and marked with a check.
• Rename — the pencil icon opens an inline field; Enter commits, Escape cancels.
• Delete — the trash icon removes the scenario. Deleting a scenario never touches your routes; it only forgets that saved view.

The header switcher offers the same apply and delete actions in a compact dropdown for quick switching while you work; renaming lives in the Routes panel list.

Edge cases and gotchas

• A scenario stores a set of routes, not a snapshot of their data. If you later edit a route that a scenario includes — change its trips, move stops — the scenario reflects the edited route the next time you apply it. Scenarios scope which routes you analyse, not a frozen copy of them.
• The applied view resets on reload. Scenarios persist, but reopening a feed starts on "all routes". Re-pick from the switcher to get back to where you were.
• "Custom view" is not saved automatically. If you toggle routes by hand into a combination you want to keep, save it as a scenario — otherwise the next apply or reload loses it.
• Hiding a route doesn't change the exported feed. Hidden routes are still part of the feed and still export. To actually remove a route from a feed, delete it in the Routes panel; scenarios are an analysis lens, not an editing operation.