[GTFS Digest] August 2025 - Vote on a Semantics Clarification and More!¶
Welcome to another edition of the GTFS Digest. Summer may be winding down, but the discussions on GTFS are not! The GTFS Community had an active summer with the introduction of a new governance process, fresh conversations, and new contributors joining in. Including, Etienne Pichot Damon as a new Global Community Lead at MobilityData to maintain, grow, and strengthen the GTFS Community.
The GTFS Digest is a resource distributed monthly by MobilityData providing an overview of developments on GTFS.
We really value your feedback and would like to know what you think of the new layout. We invite you to fill out this form and help us achieve the full potential of this tool.
🏅 Contributor Shoutouts¶
Every month we highlight the contributions the GTFS community has made. This month we’d like to highlight the following contributions.
| Contributor | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Cody Kraatz | Began an engaging discussion to add a “SPECIAL_EVENT” cause to GTFS-realtime Service Alerts |
| jsteelz | Published a detailed Github Issue on the limitations of Fares V2 |
¶
🗳️ Currently Voting¶
Below is a list of proposals that are currently being voted on. We invite you to take a look and participate in the voting process.
| Proposal | Advocate | Description | Voting Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| [GTFS Fares v2] Semantics clarification #561 | tzujenchanmbd | Proposal to clarify semantics on GTFS Fares v2 files | Sep 15, 2025 |
¶
🚀 Recently Adopted¶
This month, no new changes were adopted.
¶
📂 Active Proposals¶
These proposals are seeing a lot of discussion and could use your input!
| Proposal | Advocate | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| add trip_route_type into trips.txt GTFS static #572 | miklcct (Jnction) | This proposal adds a new optional field, called trip_route_type, into trips.txt. | Discussion Period |
| Add addition best practice on hosting GTFS files #567 | doconnoronca (Transee) | This proposal introduces a best practice for hosting GTFS files, recommending that public web servers avoid blocking non-browser requests or limiting access by region, focusing instead on preventing abusive behavior. | Discussion Period |
| Add stops.stop_access field #515 | tzujenchanmbd (MobilityData) | This PR adds a stop_access field in stops.txt to indicate how the stop is accessed for a particular station. Please refer to this proposal for details. | Vote Expected to Open September 8th |
Other open proposals:¶
- [GTFS Fares v2] Semantics clarification #561
- [GTFS-Fares v2] Add Distance-Based Fares #556
- Add communication_period and impact_period #546
- Add cemv_support field in agency.txt and routes.txt #545
- Fix typos in gtfs-realtime.proto #541
- Enhancing GTFS Schedule and Realtime with original_trip_id #534
- Introduce boarding permissions to specify the carriage of vehicles at per-stop granularity #533
- Addition of event_based_trips.txt to specification #527
- Stop Time Events in the past should be kept #502
- [GTFS Fares v2] Add nonconsecutive_transfer_allowed field and clarify fare_transfer_type #498
- [GTFS Fares v2] Area Set matching predicates #483
- [GTFS-Fares v2] Fare product/media transfer behavior #423
🐙 Most Active Conversations on Github¶
Github Issues is a great place to start a conversation, whether it’s about a new feature idea or a question about a spec. Below are this month’s most active conversations.
| Conversation | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Add new SPECIAL_EVENT Cause to GTFS-realtime Service Alerts #576 | ckraatz | This issue proposes adding new “SPECIAL_EVENT” cause to GTFS-realtime Service Alerts |
| Reconsider fare_leg_rules.rule_priority matching semantics/spec wording #575 | jsteelz | This issue discusses multiple issues with the empty semantics of rule_priority and its effect on the matching of fare leg rules. |
| RFC: mandatory shape_pt at at most 2m from stop #574 | skinkie | This issue proposes a best practice for shapes that suggests adding at least a false node in the vicinity of each stop point. |
| Add activities field to informed_entity in GTFS-realtime alerts #573 | natekauf | This issue proposes the addition of a new activities field within informed_entity in the GTFS Realtime Alert spec. This field would have enumerated values of BOARD, EXIT, and RIDE, which describe the rider activities that are unavailable at a given stop. |
| Add field for distance units #568 | nkemphues | This issue highlights the problems caused by the lack of a defined distance unit in GTFS feeds. The proposal suggests adding an optional distance_unit field to clarify the units used in files like shapes.txt and fare_legs.txt. |
¶
🔥 Most Active Conversations on Slack¶
This month’s round-up of the most active discussions on the GTFS Slack channels.
| Author | Description | Slack Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Md Saiful Islam | Informed of a change of host for the GTFS feeds of Cal-ITP. | #gtfs |
| Harpreetkaur Bhamra | Asks about introducing a stop-based API to help identify which routes and trips serve specific stops. | #gtfs |
| Cody Kraatz | Opens the discussion on Special Event descriptors in GTFS-Realtime. | #gtfs-realtime |
| Scott Berkley | Shares a confusion about networks and routes. | #gtfs-fares |
| Cody Kraatz | Asks about how Google Maps handles a flex route_id in GTFS-Realtime that does not exist in the GTFS schedule. | #gtfs-flex |
¶
📅 Upcoming Events¶
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| GTFS Fares V2 Working Group Meeting | Sep 23, 2025@ 11:00am EST | Online |
¶
💬 Join the GTFS Community¶
-
Join Slack and introduce yourself to the community.
-
Subscribe to the GTFS Digest for monthly updates about all things GTFS.
-
Join GTFS Changes Google Group to stay informed on development.
-
Visit GitHub to post issues, participate in discussions around changes, and, propose changes.
Thank you for reading this edition of the GTFS Digest! We look forward to bringing you the latest GTFS updates in 2025 and beyond.