Rail and public-transit data
Rail and public transit generate rich operational and passenger data, much of it open via common standards. This guide covers transit data and how to source and use it.
Why transit data matters now
Operators, authorities and apps rely on transit data for planning, information and analysis, and open standards have made much of it widely available, though quality and coverage vary.
The data landscape
- Schedules: static timetables (often GTFS).
- Real-time: positions, arrivals and disruptions (GTFS-RT and similar).
- Performance: punctuality and reliability.
- Ridership and assets: demand and infrastructure data.
Standards
GTFS and GTFS-Realtime are de-facto standards for transit schedules and live data, easing integration, though implementations differ. National access points publish much European transit data.
Common use cases
Journey planning and passenger information, network planning, performance and punctuality analysis, and demand and accessibility studies.
Sourcing considerations
Coverage and freshness vary by operator, and real-time feeds need reliability handling. Ridership data can be personal, requiring aggregation. Licensing is often open but should be confirmed.
In a managed model
A managed partner can aggregate transit schedules, real-time and performance data across operators into a consistent dataset.
Open standards, varied quality
GTFS and GTFS-Realtime make much transit data available and interoperable, though implementations differ and coverage and freshness vary by operator. National access points publish much European transit data.
Privacy and reliability
Ridership data can be personal, so aggregate it; real-time feeds need reliability handling, and combining schedules, real-time and performance across operators into a consistent dataset is the core work.
- Open standards (GTFS, GTFS-RT) make much transit data available.
- Combine schedules, real-time, performance and ridership data.
- Coverage and freshness vary by operator.
- Aggregate ridership data where it could identify individuals.
Sources & further reading
- GTFS and GTFS-Realtime specifications.
- EU National Access Points for transport data.
- Eurostat: rail and transport statistics.
- EUR-Lex: ITS Directive and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).
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