What we measure, and what the measurement does not say
For every line whose operator publishes a timetable in both directions, the register counts the relations on each side. That is a measurement, not a judgement: it can be redone from the same public source, and it changes when the timetable changes.
But the verdict does not follow from the ratio of the two numbers, and one line proves it on its own. La Canée ↔ Anopoli publishes one relation each way — one out, one back, perfectly symmetrical on paper. In practice the outward leaves at 14:00 and the only return at 06:30 the next morning: visiting by bus means sleeping there. The criterion is usability within the day. The count is its most legible signal, not its definition.
The lines concerned
Each panel carries the operator's own count, the source, and the date it was consulted. The bars are proportional to the published relations.
Archanes, Myrtia, Kastelli, Arkalochori, Viannos, Pefko, Sykologos, Asimi, Mesochorio, Ano Kastelliana
Anogia, Krousona, Asites, Rogdia
Héraklion ↔ hôtels Stella, Zorbas, Caldera, Lyttos, Serita, Laguna, Nana Royal
La Canée ↔ Anopoli
Why the network is built this way
This is neither a flaw nor an oversight: these lines are not made for visitors. A village line carries residents who go down to town in the morning for the paperwork, the market, the doctor, and back up in the late afternoon. The timetable follows that need, and follows it very well. A traveller who wants the opposite — up in the morning, down at night — is asking a public service to do what it was not designed for.
Hotel lines follow a different logic and produce the same effect. The operator publishes 11 destinations outbound and a single return: the service is designed as an arrival transfer, not as a shuttle. You get there by bus; you come back some other way.
The practical consequence is the same in both cases: on these lines, the day trip by public transport does not exist. That is information no operator publishes, because it describes what its service does not allow.
The lines the measurement says nothing about
The register records 93 lines and services. Only 7 carry this measurement, because it requires a timetable published in both directions — and 86 lines have none. Of those 7, 4 reveal an imbalance and 3 reveal none. For those we do not write that they are balanced: we write that the operator does not publish enough to say. A missing measurement is not a reassuring one.
That is also why this list will grow rather than shrink. Every two-way timetable an operator newly publishes adds a measurable line, and some will reveal one more imbalance.
Frequently asked questions
What is a line that « only works one way within the day »?
A line the operator runs in both directions, but whose times do not allow a return trip on the same day. The commonest case: the bus leaves the village early in the morning for the town and only goes back in the late afternoon. From the town, the day trip is impossible.
Can a line with one departure each way still be a trap?
Yes, and it is the sharpest case on the island. On the Anopoli line the outward leaves at 14:00 and the only return at 06:30 the next morning. The ratio of relations is one to one; the line still forces you to sleep there.
Where do these counts come from?
From the timetables the operators publish themselves — ktelherlas.gr for the centre and east, e-ktel.com for the west. Every panel carries its source and the date it was consulted.
What do you do when a line only works one way?
Three options: sleep there, arrange the return differently (taxi, lift, organised trip), or take a car for the day. On these particular destinations the bus alone is not enough, and knowing it beforehand beats discovering it at the stop.