The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is an open data format introduced in 2005 through a collaboration between TriMet and Google. It provides static schedule data, including transit routes, stops, and timetables. Sitewise leverages this data to identify and map public transit access points near a given location.
By covering transit networks across Canada and the U.S., GTFS data supports more accurate assessments of location accessibility and surrounding mobility options. When combined with vehicle traffic data, it offers a more comprehensive view of how easily an area can be reached.
Use Cases
Client Accessibility: Many of our clients do not own vehicles, so it's important that our locations are near public transit stops. Can we add transit stop data to support site planning?
Team Preferences: Our largely young team values access to public transportation. Can we review bus and train stop locations to help guide where we plan future sites?
Methodology
The data comes from web-based data feeds called GTFS (general transit feed specification), managed by either the transit operator themselves, or other members of the transit community. The URLs to fetch the feeds are taken from a transit-oriented API service called “transit.land”. The URLs are maintained by the transit community, which means when changes happen, URLs for lesser-known agencies may stay out-of-date for longer before being updated compared to more widely known agencies.
Sitewise Use of GTFS
In Sitewise, GTFS CSV files are used to generate point and line shapefiles of transit networks in Canada and the U.S. These shapefiles include stop/route attributes, with irrelevant or non-unique data (e.g., multiple trip arrival times) excluded. The goal is to enable clients to assess transit accessibility for business decision-making.
Considerations
Data Quality: While the workflow is robust, some inconsistent or broken data may still be processed, as not all transit feeds strictly follow GTFS best practices.
Feed Index Reliability: The Sitewise project relies on Transitland to fetch GTFS feeds. Although Transitland is generally well-maintained, it occasionally has outdated links or deprecated feeds, especially for lesser-known transit agencies.
FAQ
How often is the data updated?
The data is updated once per year in Q1 typically, but the vintage of individual feeds can be seen from the date columns in Sitewise details tab.
Are both schedule and real time used?
The transit routes are created using the Scheduled data.
How do I add it to my set up?
Reach out the the Sitewise Team to get this added to your setup!
Is there a cost to adding this data to my Sitewise account?
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