SF Streestblog nerds out on open transit data
Excuse the late post, but in case you missed it, SF Streetsblog ran a pice on “How Google and Portland’s TriMet Set the Standard for Open Transit Data” in early January.
They interview some key players who give a window into the evolving practice of opening transit data. Check it out if you haven’t already.
CityGoRound.org, a new transportation application directory
The folks at Front Seat, who’ve brought us WalkScore, among other great projects, have done it again. Today, Front Seat launched CityGoRound.org
When public transportation information was added to WalkScore, FrontSeat realized they needed more open Google Transit feed data to make the feature useful in more markets. CityGoRound makes it easier for people to find transportation applications for their area (see example of the localized search for Portland). The website also highlights the need for open data to make these applications possible. They recognizes and thank the agencies that provide open data (pulling this information from GTFS Data Exchange).
The project team were several hard-working transit and open data advocates: Brandon Martin-Anderson, Jehiah Czebotar, Dave Peck, Josh Livni, and Joe Hughes, who put this together in a few weeks. The site is open source to facilitate its implementation in international markets.
Transit agencies with open data: Put a link to your localized City-Go-Round page on your agency website. One of our clients is already planning to do this, and we’re planning to reach out to more clients to encourage them to refer their online customers to this useful resource.
You can also read about CityGoRound.com at the Headway Blog. And there’s the Front Seat press release.
Northern California Google Transit Feasibility Study and Pilot project
Last month, the Shasta County Regional Transportation Planning Agency accepted Trillium’s Northern California Google Transit Feasibility Study.
The document is the culmination of a project begun in January 2009 to pilot rural Northern California transit agencies in Google Transit. Currently, Redding Area Bus Authority is live in Google Transit. Several neighboring agencies are in the Google Transit launch pipeline.
The project was funded by the Caltrans Division of Mass Transportation in response to a recommendation in the state’s March 2008 Rural Intercity Bus Study to explore Google Transit as a way of enhancing information dissemination for inter-city transportation services. The goal of this recommendation is to make connections between services easier for passengers to find and use.
The study was commissioned to:
- Investigate, and make progress towards overcoming, present limitations of Google Transit for rural areas and small agencies (see Chapter 3. “Trip planner pilot”)
- Inventory and describe ways in which transit agencies can put Google Transit feed data to other uses besides trip planning in Google Maps. (see Chapter 5. “Opportunities to leverage GTFS”)
- Inventory methods of publishing and maintaining Google Transit feed data for rural agencies. (See Chapter 4. “Google Transit feed publishing tools”)
- Make progress towards integrating traveler information, through Google Transit and Google Transit source data, into 2-1-1 human services and information referral programs. (See Chapter 6. “Implementation plan”)
Highlights of the findings are encapsulated in the Executive Summary. We hope and expect that this work helps broaden participation by rural and intercity California transportation in Google Transit.
SF Bay ferry services live on Google Transit
On Friday, the San Francisco ferry services went live on Google Transit. Now, travelers can plan inter-agency trips across BART, Muni, AC Transit and other services along with the five ferry services: Golden Gate Ferry, Baylink, Oakland/Alameda Ferry, Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry, and Blue & Gold Fleet at maps.google.com or an iPhone, iPod touch, or other mobile device like a Blackberry or Android-based phone.
Trillium publishes the GTFS for the ferry services with the support of Bay Crossings. We’re experimenting with ways of consolidating the management and dissemination of schedule information for customers. Currently, information from a centralized database, manipulated through Trillium’s WebSchedule is presented through the published GTFS for Google Transit, the SF Bay Ferries map at baycrossings.com, and the large flat panel display of scheduled ferry arrivals and departures at the San Francisco Bay Ferry Building Bay Crossings store location.
Metro developer beta
LA Metro has created something very impressive. The beta version of the Metro developers site just launched.
One corner of the Metro developers site.
They offer Google Transit Feed Data, and REST+JSON and XML interfaces for Los Angeles area agencies, stop location data, and schedule information. The site also has GIS shapefiles available for download.
Beyond making data available the site also provides some support resources to help developers do something with it. There is a terminology guide. The site also is a platform for 3rd party developers and LA Metro developers to interact. Most pages have a “comment” option for logged in users, and there is a developer blog.
“Beta” is a uncomfortable concept for some transit agencies; the idea of releasing something that is new and maybe even unfinished is an unfamiliar approach. But Metro appears to have recognized the benefit of the public beta approach — real-world use testing and feedback. By all appearances, this beta site is set up to anticipate and work with change. That makes sense because transit evolves and technology moves quickly. I’m looking forward to seeing the progress.
TriMet launches third party developer app center
Browse through ‘Unofficial’ Web and Mobile Applications for applications that utilize TriMet’s TransitTracker Web Service & GTFS Data for developers.
There are a lot of great apps there — mobile apps, SMS, web-apps, and visualization tools. Looks like TriMet’s Developer Resources are paying off for the agency and riders.
Wish your iPod touch could help plan transit trips?
While iPhone users benefit from built-in transit directions, iPod touch users can feel left out on the curb.
However, until the iPod touch incorporates transit directions (and I hope it will), there is another option — UniBus for iPod touch and iPhone. Unibus is a $1.99 app that allows you to look up arrivals and departures for many transit systems that make their GTFS publicly available, including those of two Trillium clients, agencies in Humboldt County, California, and Mountain Line in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Since the schedule information is downloaded to the device, network access is not required to lookup schedule information.
More information is available from the UniBus website. Below, a screenshot of the app.
I discovered this app through the Headway Wiki. Thanks to Joe Hughes for establishing this resource.
William Lachance on “Creating a google transit feed for fun and profit”
Just wanted to send a shout out for William Lachance, who created a Google Transit feed and trip planner, hbcus.ca, for Halifax Metro Transit as a volunteer.
He described the process he used to gather location information and include it with schedule data on his blog post “Creating a google transit feed for fun and profit.”
The post gives a window into some of the issues involved in creating Google Transit feeds in situations where bus stop location information and schedule information is not available in a standardized format (this is the case for almost all of Trillium’s small clients). It also shows some of the ways the Google Transit Feed Specification is being applied outside of Google Transit.
Below, a screenshot of hbus.ca.
