Point-to-point transit

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Point-to-point transit is a transportation system in which a plane, bus, or train travels directly to a destination, rather than going through a central

in which the transportation goes to a central location where passengers change to another train, bus, or plane to reach their destination.

Use in airlines

The point-to-point model is used widely by

holiday resorts.

Advantages

• It eliminates the need for connections the majority of the time.[2]
• It considerably reduces travel time.^[2]
• It considerably reduces risk of baggage loss or baggage arriving much later than the passenger, as baggage is not transferred as fast as passengers.^[2]
• Total fuel and pollution per passenger is lower: a passenger flying directly from Brussels to San Francisco will burn less fuel than flying via London or New York.^[2]
• Without the need to satisfy connections for passengers, trips in a point-to-point system are less interdependent, but the operational constraints of needing to have sufficient equipment and personnel in each location at the right time to satisfy the timetable remain. That minimizes the risk of the domino effect in which the delayed arrival of one trip into a place leads to delayed departures of the (often) multiple trips with which its passengers had to make connections, cascading delays through the network. Therefore, a point-to-point system is less prone to delays.^[2]
• It has proven advantageous in the air cargo industry in which freight is carried in the unused baggage hold space on passenger flights ("belly cargo"). Traditionally, large cargo aircraft are scheduled to fly between large hubs so freight often has to be forwarded on by additional flights or by rail or road. Belly cargo carried point to point can be delivered closer to its final destination.^[2]

Disadvantages

• If a desired origin–destination pair is not served, passengers will have to make a connection as in the
  hub model or travel by another mode of transportation.^[2]
  Low-cost carriers typically do not facilitate or honor connections, even if the consecutive flights are operated by that carrier and arrive and depart from the same airport.
• The frequency of trips may be reduced because the number of origin–destination pairs is orders of magnitude larger.^[2]
• In the event of major weather events or system malfunctions, it is more difficult to isolate problems to a single part of the country. Such example was the 2022 Southwest Airlines scheduling crisis.^[3]

See also

• Spoke-hub distribution paradigm
  (alternative shipping model)
• Direct flight

References