It is now possible to have a journey that has multiple patterns, like so by specifying a patterns array in journey segments, like so:
patterns: [
{
from_stop_index: 10,
to_stop_index: 23,
pattern_id: 'red'
},
{
from_stop_index: 14,
to_stop_index: 28,
pattern_id: 'green'
}
]
However, when you zoom in far enough that the patterns snap to streets, transitive is simply choosing a street to snap to, for example here: http://www.carfreeatoz.com/planner?from=Fort%20Totten%2C%20Washington%2C%20DC&to=Gallery%20Place%20-%20Chinatown%2C%20Washington%2C%20DC&modes=BICYCLE%2CTRAINISH%2CWALK&start_time=8&end_time=9&days=M%E2%80%94F

Or, in indianapolis (the red line should be on Shelby Street, this is following the geometry of the 31):

We can improve this by making the bundling in browsochrones less aggressive.