Overview
Fixed Route planning brings together a few connected building blocks. You create your stops, group them into a route, define the exact order the vehicle travels through them in a pattern, set which days trips run using a service, and finally create a timetable that tells Spare when trips depart. Spare then generates all of your individual trips automatically.
Most of this work happens in the Network Map (with Routes, Stops, Depots, and Deadheads tabs), plus the Services and Timetable View pages, all under Route Planning.
The Recommended Workflow
For the smoothest setup, build things in this order — each step relies on the one before it:
Create your stops — the physical locations vehicles serve.
Create a route — the named line that ties everything together.
Build a pattern — the ordered sequence of stops and the path between them.
Create a service — the calendar of days trips operate on.
Create a timetable — the departure window and frequency that generates trips.
Review your trips in Timetable View.
Step 1: Create Your Stops
Stops are managed on the Network Map → Stops tab. A stop has a name, location, and optional details like an external ID, fare zone, wheelchair boarding setting, and a geofence used for arrival detection.
To add a stop:
Open the Network Map and switch to the Stops tab.
Select Add Stop.
Set the location by clicking the map to drop a marker, or by entering Latitude and Longitude.
Enter a Name (required) and, optionally, a Description and External ID (used for GTFS export).
If your organization uses them, assign a Fare Zone and set Wheelchair Boarding.
Optionally select Draw Geofence and click the map to outline an arrival-detection area. The geofence must meet a minimum size before it can be saved.
Select Create New Stop.
Finding a stop: Use the map search bar at the top ("Search routes, stops, depots, deadheads, or a location") to search by stop name, address, or coordinates. Hover a stop in the list to highlight it on the map, and click a row or marker to open it.
Tip: To change a stop's location later, open it, select Edit Stop, and click a new spot on the map or update the latitude/longitude fields.
Step 2: Create a Route
A route is the named line riders recognize. Create it on the Network Map → Routes tab.
On the Routes tab, select Add Route.
Enter a Short Name, Long Name, or both (at least one is required). You can also add a Description and External ID.
Choose a Route Type (for example Bus, Tram, Rail, or Ferry).
Pick a Color and Text Color for how the route appears on maps.
Select the Route shape: Linear (with outbound and inbound directions you can name) or Loop (a single direction).
Optionally set a Layover Depot, and — if enabled for your organization — assign Providers.
Once created, a route has three tabs: Service Summary (its patterns and timetables), Stops (every stop across its patterns), and Route Info (read-only details).
Step 3: Build a Pattern
A pattern is the ordered list of stops a vehicle serves in a given direction, plus the path it drives between them. Open your route and select New pattern to launch the Pattern Builder.
Enter a Pattern name.
For linear routes, choose a direction mode: Both, outbound only, or inbound only. (Loop routes are single-direction, so this is hidden.)
Add stops in order — search for them in the Add Stop field, or click their markers on the map.
Reorder stops by dragging the grip handle. Remove a stop with the trash icon (this only removes it from the pattern, not from your network).
For each stop, set the Dwell Time (how long the vehicle waits) and toggle Time point on or off. Between stops, the Run Time is filled in automatically from road routing — enter a value to override it, or clear it to return to automatic.
Spare draws a road-snapped path automatically. To reshape it, click near the line to add a routing waypoint, drag a waypoint to adjust, or click a waypoint to remove it.
Select Save Pattern. Each direction needs at least two stops before it can be saved.
The Headsign fills in automatically (from the last stop on linear routes, or the route name on loops). You can type your own, or clear the field to return to the automatic value.
Step 4: Create a Service
A service is the calendar that defines which days of the week and date range trips run on. Go to Route Planning → Services.
Select Create New Service (the + button) to open the drawer.
Enter a Name (required) and optional Description.
Check the Days of Week the service operates.
Set a Start Date and End Date (both required).
Save. (Save stays disabled until the name and both dates are set.)
On a service's full edit form you can also set an External ID and toggle Include in GTFS exports.
Handling holidays and one-off changes
Open a service to manage exception dates — specific days when the service behaves differently from its normal calendar. In the Service Exception Dates card, select Add Exception Date and choose a Date, a Type (Removed so the service will not run, or Added so it will), and an optional Name such as "Christmas Day." You can remove an exception date using the Delete link in its row.
Step 5: Create a Timetable
A timetable ties a pattern to a service and defines when trips depart. Spare uses it, along with the pattern's dwell and run times, to generate every individual trip.
From your route, select New Timetable (this is disabled until the route has at least one pattern).
Select the Pattern to schedule.
Select the Service. You can also create a new service inline here without leaving the form.
Define one or more time periods for each direction, entering the First departure time, the Last departure time, and the Headway (how often trips depart). When First and Last are the same, the period becomes a single trip and headway is disabled.
Use Add time period to add more windows (for example, a tighter rush-hour frequency). Outbound edits mirror to inbound until you adjust inbound manually.
Select Create Timetable. The name is generated automatically from the pattern and direction.
Step 6: Review Your Trips
Open Timetable View (or click a period row in the route's Service Summary) to see the generated trips in a read-only grid. You can select a pattern group, switch direction, expand a service section, and view individual trip rows with per-stop times.
Individual trip times aren't edited directly in the grid. To change them, edit the timetable's first/last/headway values, or adjust the dwell and run times in the pattern, and Spare will regenerate the trips.
Editing and Housekeeping
Each building block can be updated or retired as your network changes:
Routes: Use the overflow (⋯) menu on a route to Edit Route Details or Archive Route.
Patterns: From the Service Summary tab, use a pattern card's ⋯ menu to Edit pattern or Archive pattern.
Timetables: Edit or archive a time period from the Service Summary row, or from a band in Timetable View.
Stops: Open a stop and use Edit Stop or Delete Stop. Deleting a stop is permanent.
Services: Use Edit Service to change any field, Lock Service / Unlock Service to prevent accidental edits, and Delete Service to remove one. Deleting a service is permanent.
Bulk Import and Export (GTFS)
If you already have network data, you can load it in bulk instead of building by hand. Under Data Management → Import, upload a .zip — Spare auto-detects GTFS, GeoJSON, or Shapefile formats and creates routes, stops, patterns, services, exception dates, and timetables, showing a count of what was imported.
Under Data Management → Export, select Export to download your full network as a GTFS .zip, or copy the public GTFS schedule URL to share your data with trip-planning apps.
Questions about any of these steps? Reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help.