[GTFS Digest] March 2024 - GTFS adopts Flex and experiments with Trip-Modifications¶
GTFS-Flex now enables users to discover demand-responsive services, and GTFS Trip-Modifications introduces experimental fields for trip adjustments. The new 5.0 release of the Canonical GTFS Schedule Validator includes enhanced error handling and Fares v2 validation.
The GTFS Digest is a resource generated monthly by MobilityData providing an overview of developments on GTFS.
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🏅 Contributor Shoutouts¶
Michaelandrewkearney
Posted their first issue on google/transit and is a frequent contributor on the GTFS validator. Thank you for contributing!
Holger Bruch
A seasoned contributor that brought up some engaging questions on Slack.
GTFS-Flex Contributors
As Leonard Ehrenfried put it so well on Slack: WE DID IT!!! 11 years of development! MobilityData would like to thank the voters that turned out in record numbers, 18 in total.
OpenTripPlanner, Trillium, WSDOT, Ualabee, Caltrans, UrbanLabs LLC, Minnesota Department of Transportation, SBB SKI+, MENTZ GmbH, Gaussian Solutions, LA Metro, Transit, Cambridge Systematics, Interline, Taskar Center for Accessible Technology (University of Washington), Arcadis, SEPTA, and King County.
🚀 Recently Adopted¶
The GTFS-Flex proposal allows passengers to discover demand-responsive services on trip planners
GTFS Trip-Modifications #403 [Passed vote as experimental field]
Trip-Modifications are modifications done to a trip to modify its shape, remove stops that are not served, and potentially add temporary stops. Trip-Modifications is mainly used for visualizing detours and updating realtime predictions.
📂 Active Proposals¶
Add Feed Version and GTFS url to the GTFS real time FeedHeader #434
This Realtime proposal adds two new fields to the feed header to provide information on the GTFS schedule file to be used with the GTFS real time data: feed_version would match the feed_version in the feed_info.txt file of the GTFS, while GTFS_url would point to the url of the GTFS file. A producer willing to implement this change is required to move forward.
Clarify stops.zone_id conditional requirement for route-based fare_rules #432 \ This proposal modifies the conditional requirement for stops.zone_id to allow for the scenario in which the stop is only assigned to trip_ids whose route_id is present in a fare_rules.txt record with only fare_id and route_id defined (route-based fares).
Other open proposals¶
[GTFS-Fares v2] Add rule_priority to fare_leg_rules.txt #418
[GTFS-Fares v2] Same fare product/media transfer behavior #423
[GTFS-Fares v2] Clarification: Fare product definition #426
🔥 Most Active Conversations¶
[Governance] Phase 2: Enhancing Voting and Reviews #436
This GitHub Issue is part of the ongoing effort to enhance the GTFS Governance, particularly focusing on the Specification Amendment Process outlined in phase 2 of the phasing plan published in December 2023.
- An interactive discussion was held on 13 March, 2024. Participants shared their feedback and some high level consensus was achieved.
- A Working Group will be formed soon to continue building consensus around the details surrounding the changes.
- If you are interested in joining this group, please reach out to MobilityData.
Clarifying constraints on pathways.stair_count #437
Michael Kearney has flagged a potential problem with the definition of pathways.stair_count and raises some questions around the meaning of empty and 0 values, then proposes four potential solutions for discussions, but points out some potential backwards compatibility problems. This issue requires further discussion from the community.
Modeling bimodal services (bus + train)
Gustavo Franco is asking the community about potential ways to model a "bimodal service" that serves different stations with specific rules in GTFS. Members of the community have already pointed to a previous proposal that might have been useful to solve use cases like these.
Clarification on language code data standards used in translations.txt #435
Juliet Eldred from Trillium brings up an inconsistency in the documentation with regards to code data standards used in translation and would like the community to help clarify where the source of truth lies.
Integration of carpooling lines #430
Aurélien from the French National Access Point (NAP) has opened a GitHub Issue to discuss a potential proposal to model Carpooling lines behaving like bus lines: with precise stops and destinations, but in this case, driven by regular car drivers that can receive a money incentive from fares, or share their costs with passengers. Two different potential solutions are presented for discussion.
🛠️ Tools update¶
New 5.0 Release: Canonical GTFS Schedule Validator
Highlights include:
- Implementing thresholds to reduce the noisiness of errors trip_distance_exceeds_shape_distance and equal_shape_distance_diff_coordinates
- New Fares v2 validation rule for networks.txt and route_networks.txt
- Breaking changes to the JSON report to improve machine readability
💬 Join the GTFS Community¶
GitHub: google/transit: Share your ideas with the community! Join the official GTFS GitHub repository.
GTFS-changes: Get updates as soon as they happen, join the GTFS-changes google groups to get information about new pull requests and votes.
GTFS-realtime: Talk everything Realtime and stay up to date. This group is discussing the GTFS Realtime, asking questions, and proposing changes.
GTFS.org: The official GTFS documentation website. Here you will find frequently updated resources for your GTFS needs.
MobilityData Slack: Have a question about GTFS or need to connect with the community? Join in on GTFS slack conversations. This is a great place to have questions answered quickly by the over 1,300 mobility enthusiasts navigating our channels.
**Thank you for reading the third edition of the GTFS Digest! We look forward to bringing you the latest GTFS updates in 2024 and beyond. **