Kyujitsu daiya (holiday schedule)

The operating plan applied on days off such as Sundays and public holidays. It is often built with somewhat fewer runs than the weekday schedule, and on some routes the first bus is later and the last bus earlier, so holiday mornings and nights call for extra care.

What kyujitsu daiya means

Kyujitsu daiya, the holiday schedule, is the operating plan applied on days off such as Sundays and public holidays. A bus schedule is normally drawn up separately for each type of day, and this is the version written for holidays, when travel to work and school falls away. Some routes fold Saturday into the holiday schedule, while others keep a separate Saturday schedule of their own, so the treatment differs from route to route. Holidays lose the commuter peaks but gain daytime riders heading out to shop or enjoy the day, so the schedule is not simply thinned out: it is rebuilt around the way people actually move on a day off.

Holiday schedule days mean fewer buses, a later start and an earlier finish

The tendency to keep in mind is that holiday schedules are usually built with somewhat fewer runs than weekdays. Depending on the route, the first bus of the morning can leave later than on a weekday and the last bus of the night earlier. Knowing this term gives you the instinct to check departure times with particular care whenever you travel early on a holiday morning or late on a holiday night. In the middle of the day as well, letting one bus go on the weekday assumption that another will be along in a moment can leave you waiting far longer than you expected.

The other important thing to know is how public holidays are handled. Even when the date falls between Monday and Friday, a public holiday generally runs on the holiday schedule. The familiar mistake of standing at the stop on a holiday morning as though it were an ordinary commute, only to wait and wait, is easy to avoid once you know how this works. Substitute holidays are normally counted on the holiday side too, so take care with your sense of the day when a long weekend ends.

Telling it apart from the weekday schedule

What sets it apart from the weekday schedule is which days it covers and how the runs are arranged. Timetables show weekday, Saturday and holiday columns separately, so the basic skill in reading one is to work out first which column applies to the day you are going out. Long weekends and the New Year period especially may run on a schedule unlike the usual one, so it is reassuring to check the operator's posted notices and announcements as well. On some routes it is not only the times that shift: the mix of destinations differs from weekdays too, which is why the trick on a holiday is not to let your guard down even on a route you ride often. Our article on how to read a bus timetable explains the columns in detail.