Open data roundup
Bits are flying in the open transit data discussion. Maybe I am biased, but it appears that a consensus is growing that free, readily-available, standards-based transit data is good for citizens, passengers and transit agencies.
Here’s a roundup of recent coverage. Sorry I haven’t been posting more; I’ve been very busy helping more agencies join Google Transit.
- I Bus, I Bike, iPhone: The Portland weekly newsrag, the Mercury, covers how TriMet’s pioneering in open data has made transit data available in more places on the web and in mobile devices.
- Who owns transit data? CNET compares the NY MTA, San Francisco MUNI, and Portland TriMet approaches to sharing schedule and arrival data.
- Does NextBus own MUNI real-time arrival times? Streetsblog San Francisco jumps into the very public discussion about/between Routesy, the NextBuses, Apple, and SF MUNI about who owns predicted bus arrivals.
- Muni App Makers, Rejoice: MTA, Apple Disputes Private Company’s Claims To Own Arrival Data: This story was well covered by the SF Appeal. It’s cool when geeky topics get this kind of coverage (ditto for the TriMet story in the Mercury).
- The Open Planning Project had a meetup on getting more open data (specifically for NYC) and put their notes online.
New Trillium clients launched on Google Transit
In the last month, three Trillium clients launched in Google Transit:
- Tillamook County Transportation District
- Lake Tahoe basin area (North Lake Tahoe / South Lake Tahoe)
- Redwood Coast Transit (connects with Humboldt County transit services)
Earlier this year, our client Delano Area Rapid Transit launched on Google Transit. This is the first time that’s been mentioned on this blog.
Amtrak services in Google Transit
Last month, several Amtrak services around the United States were quietly added to Google Transit. Was this a response to Brendan’s earlier blog post on the issues with the trip planner at Amtrak.com? Probably not. But I’m very happy to see Amtrak services added so that it’s possible to plan transit itineraries across regional and local services.
The regional Amtrak services that have been added are the Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin services in California, Hiawatha service in the Chicago area, and the Empire Service and Ethan Allen Express services in the Northeast.
Example itineraries below.
