Often you can manage data updates yourself via OSM - our pipeline for importing data for journey planning runs daily from 9am, once this pipeline has completed (depending on the location of the network this may take until the end of the day to complete), a dataset import is then required for changes to be reflected in journey plans.
There are certain things that you can resolve yourself very easily - like if a place isn't where it should be; or there's a vacant shop where a business has moved in; anything black and white, obviously incorrect or correct.
Access to roads, places, etc. is more complicated, the OpenStreetMap Wiki is a great resource to learn how to improve the map data in your area.
Note that this is also dependent on other contributors editing roads, carriageways and street access based on temporary changes such as road closure due to roadworks.
Passenger Cloud allows you to preview an Isochrone for a dataset - this is a representation of how far you can get from a specified location, using your network, in a specific time frame.
You can access this feature the “Network” → “Datasets” section, select a dataset then select “Isochrone Map” on the sidebar.
This is especially useful for spotting routing issues, as you’ll notice a gap in the coverage (coverage of the bus network and max walking distance).
Example of a routing island - where you cannot route outside of a specific area because the correct nodes/ways are not connected.
Example of a routing gap - where it was not possible to access via the bus network or walking.
This may be because there is no stop covered by the bus network in the gap, or the gap was was not traversable via walking.
The sharp edge on the left also hints towards a connectivity issue.
Example of a disconnected area - where the only way to get through the area is via the bus network.
This may be because there is no stop covered by the bus network in the gap, or the gap was not traversable via walking.
We also recommend OSM Inspector and OpenStreetMap Routing to aid in identifying routing issues.
Continue to the next article on Improving Journey Plans: How we handle inconsistent tagging.