BART GTFS And ETA Data
BART (wiki) makes lots of data available right from their website in a section geared towards 3rd Party developers - Developer Resources. They’ve got data, data feeds, RSS feeds, service alerts, embeddable widgets, you name it.
A couple of BART folks were at the last TransitCamp and I asked them how many developers they had.
Zero.
If they have some project that needs to get done they try to find a local developer who will do it for dirt cheap.
I expect the real-time ETA information will eventually make it into Google Transit-like applications.
The FAQ on the GTFS page gives a transit agency point of view on why they wanted to open up their data:
Why are you publishing schedules this way?
We want to foster innovative new applications, reach a broader audience and encourage more people to choose BART. And frankly, we just can’t justify spending time on some of the things our customers have asked for (like a QuickPlanner for Newton). Maybe you can give that a shot.Why use this format?
GTFS is a lightweight, open format that provides a common, easy way to exchange transit data. You don’t have to be Googleâ„¢ to use it.Will you help me troubleshoot?
If we help you, it’s only fair that we help everyone else, too. We simply don’t have the resources for that. Thoroughly compare your work with the schedules, fares and trip plans on the BART website and tweak your output accordingly. We expect you to provide accurate information to our customers.What are your plans for developing the feed?
We’re supporting this project on what we call “BART one percent time.” It’s like 20 percent time only it’s way fewer people and 19 percent less time. That being said, we’ll do our best to keep information up-to-date as the spec develops.
As someone else has already said, it’s a bit unfortunate that Google chose to name the data format something that includes ‘Google’ in the name — it makes the lives of transit advocates more difficult because public agencies think they’re building something just for Google. So Google - how about changing GTFS to just TFS?
Leave comment (0)[p.s. The Forums are open for participation.]
