[GTFS Digest] June 2024 - Advancing GTFS: New Contributors, Proposals, and Discussions¶

We've adopted rule_priority to fare_leg_rules.txt and clarified stops.zone_id conditional requirements for route-based fare_rules. Current proposals include updates to feed_info.txt, clarifications in transfers.txt, new fare_leg_join_rules.txt, Feed Version and GTFS URL additions, and fare product/media transfer behavior in GTFS-Fares v2.

The GTFS Digest is a resource generated monthly by MobilityData providing an overview of developments on GTFS.

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🏅 Contributor Shoutouts¶

Emily Chwiggy & Mustafa Kemal Sürmeneli

Posted their first issues (471 & 478) on google/transit! Thank you for your valuable contributions and welcome to the GTFS community.

Rihal Rehzal

Shoutout for posting your FIRST EVER GitHub issue and for contributing on slack! GitHub can be a daunting place for newcomers and you handled it like a champ. Welcome!

Biju Nair & Daniel Mihalov

Thank you for sharing your contributions (1, 2,& 3) on the GTFS slack. It is inquiries like yours that have dramatically increased community engagement on the platform.

📂 Active Proposals¶

Add that shapes should be included #470

This change adds a “should” statement in shapes.txt to specify that shapes.txt should be included for all route-based services, instead of making it recommended in all cases since zone-based demand-responsive services can now be modeled in GTFS.

Change stops.txt presence because of demand responsive services #472

This PR proposes to update the presence of stops.txt after the adoption of flex, changing it from Required to Conditionally Required (required if locations.geojson doesn't exist, optional otherwise).

Clarify intended use for timepoint in stop_times.txt #474

This change clarifies the empty semantics for stop_times.timepoint, specifying that an empty value means no timepoint values are provided for any record in stop_times.txt, and if provided, all records that have times associated should have timepoint values of 0 or 1.

Add validity rules for polygons in locations.geojson #476

This PR proposes to refer to the OpenGIS Simple Features Specification, section 6.1.11 to improve the validity rules for flex polygons, instead of describing all the ways in which polygons can be invalid in GTFS.

Other open proposals:¶

🔥 Most Active Conversations¶

**Best practice for the use of shapes #477 **

Stefan from Bliksem Labs B.V. proposes to add a new file that could be used to determine the properties of a shape, including specifying if a shape is specific or abstracted, and is shared between unrelated stop sequences. The practice of creating shape points at every stop point is also proposed here.

**Center coordinate or Bounding box definition in feed_info.txt #471 **

Mustafa from Mathematician suggested adding fields in feed_info.txt that indicate a center point to focus on the area it represents on the map.

**Proposal: Add elevator/escalator real-time status - extend EntitySelector to select pathways instead of only nodes #268 **

Sebastian from wheelmap.org suggested extending EntitySelector so that RT feeds can select a pathway to communicate its realtime status, allowing GTFS to flag elevator or escalator outages in Realtime. This conversation was recently reignited by Cody from SimplifyTransit.

Global trip id #462

David from SKI+ proposes a new field "trip_global_id" in GTFS Schedule and Realtime for better integration with other standards like NeTEx and HRDF, addressing a need for a day-long valid trip identifier. This global ID would allow easier mapping of travel information across different data formats.

Addition of vehicles.txt to GTFS static #458

Darwin from TransSee proposes adding a vehicles.txt file to GTFS. This could provide detailed information about vehicle capacity, accessibility, and features, enhancing real-time prediction tools and standardizing fleet data reporting. This file could include details such as vehicle type, capacity, manufacturer, and accessibility features.

📅 Upcoming Events¶

GTFS-Fares v2 – Monthly meetings | July 30, 2024 @ 11 am EDT

Topics : GTFS-Fares v2 extension Working Group Meeting

Governance Working Group Meeting | July 11, 2024 @ 11 am EDT

Topics : Next steps in the GTFS governance Revamp

💬 Join the GTFS Community¶

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GTFS.org: The official GTFS documentation website. Here you will find frequently updated resources for your GTFS needs.

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**Thank you for reading the seventh edition of the GTFS Digest! We look forward to bringing you the latest GTFS updates in 2024 and beyond. **