Learn English – Term describing both point of pickup and dropoff point, unambiguously excluding transit between points

general-vs-specificsingle-word-requests

Is there a term which is concretely associated with a place for pickup and drop-off (like "taxi stand," requiring embarking and disembarking)?

It must also immediately exclude the "dual" case of generically switching states – terms like "transition" can ambiguously refer to either "the point where you go from one trip segment to another" or "the trip segment where you go from one point to another."

I'm looking for a minimal generalization, like going from "man or woman" to "person."

Best Answer

Consider terminal (or the variant terminus), which means:

1 Of, forming, or situated at the end or extremity of something

1.1 Of or forming a transportation terminal

This seems like a pretty apt hypernym of bus stop, train station, dock, and airport.

Further, it might be applicable more broadly to points of pick-up and drop-off, especially if these are fixed points.

The suggestion of stop in the comments above might be an even better one, though. It means:

1.2 A place designated for a bus or train to halt and pick up or drop off passengers.

Notice how this definition explicitly mentions picking up and dropping off passengers. It is commonly used for other types of vehicles as well: for example, boats, planes, and public transit hovercrafts.

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