Advancing Adoption of GTFS Programs in California

The General Transit Specification Feed (GTFS) and its more recent extension to real-time data allow transit agencies to make their route and schedule information (as well as realtime updates) available to external trip planners. Research has found that the availability of this information, particularly via smartphone applications increases the legibility, predictability, and, consequently, use of transit services. Furthermore, the availability of this schedule and real-time information is a critical basis for any Mobility-as-a-Service offering. California has an unusually large array of transit providers that often offer connecting and overlapping services. However, it is not well known how accurate this information is and inaccurate information can undermine the confidence in this scheduling information. This project is focused on assessing the accuracy of the GTFS-RT data provided by transit agencies to the customer, provides anticipated changes from the schedule to better assist users in planning their transit trips, maximizes the use of the associated transit resources, and promotes integrated mobility services.

Specifically, this project will identify the existing public availability of GTFS for all California public transportation providers, interview, develop guidance to simplify and streamline GTFS development, provide standardized contracting language, build a statewide GTFS repository, and leverage capacity to prioritize interventions to advance GTFS adoption.

University: 
Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility
Principal Investigator: 
Gregory Newmark, PhD
PI Contact Information: 

gnewmark@k-state.edu

Kansas State University

Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization): 

California Department of Transportation - $129,379

Total Project Cost: 
$129,379
Agency ID or Contract Number: 
65A0660
Dates: 
September 2020 to January 2022
Impacts/Benefits of Implementation: 

By facilitating the adoption of GTFS static and GTFS real-time into the practices of transit agencies across the state as well as creating a statewide clearinghouse and historical archive of GTFS information, all transit agencies receiving Federal Transit Agency or Caltrans support will be included. Additionally, this work will identify any chronic issues within real-time information provision and allow transit agencies to take action to improve the accuracy of these feeds and therefore improve the rider experience.

Project Number: 
2017

-

CSUTC
MCEEST
MCTM
NTFC
NTSC

Contact Us

SJSU Research Foundation   210 N. 4th Street, 4th Floor, San Jose, CA 95112    Phone: 408-924-7560   Email: mineta-institute@sjsu.edu