www.TransformingTransportation.org

The General Transit Feed

Specification (GTFS) and

Implications for International

Development

Holly Krambeck, World BankPresented at Transforming Transportation 2015

The General Transit Feed Specification(GTFS)

and Implications for International Development

Holly Krambeckhkrambeck@worldbank.org

City of 12 million people

70% of all trips made on public transit

SUPPOSE

AND YOU WANT TOTake a bus somewhere

orIdentify a suitable location for a

new transit route or station

YOU’LL NEED A MAP!

35% of the world’s 100 largest cities

do not have complete transit route maps

92%of the world’s largest lower-middle income cities

(25 out of the largest 100)

do not have complete transit route maps

THE EXPERIMENT

Create cities’ first integrated, multi-modal transit maps and databases using a data standard that

is not remotely intended to solve transit challenges in developing countries…

the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS)

WHAT IS GTFS?

• Open data standard

Route Type Route ID Route Name

Bus 123 A to B

… … …

Route ID Route Name Route Type

123 A to B 3

… … …

Effectively, taking existing data types and adjusting column names and encoding

WHY DO WEGTFS?

• Growing # of developers are creating innovative solutions to transit challenges, leveraging this standard.

• In theory, an investment in an application in one city can be adopted in any other city that

has adopted the same standards. In business and international development, this is a very powerful concept!

WHY DO WEGTFS?

• 800+ uniform transit datasets available to you RIGHT NOW:

http://www.gtfs-data-exchange.com/

WORLD BANKGTFS-BASED PROJECTS

Manila, PhilippinesZhengzhou, Jinan, Nanchang; China

Haiphong, VietnamUlaanbaatar, Mongolia

Mexico City, MexicoSao Paulo, Brazil (new)

Cairo, Egypt (new)

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED

(1) GTFS databases do have the potential to help developing cities

overcome, for the first time, challenges they had faced for

many years; and (2) GTFS databases are very difficult

to establish and maintain in developing countries.

GTFS ALL STARS

Bibiana McHugh, Trimet The “Mother” of GTFS

Jacqueline Klopp, Columbia University Mapping Nairobi transit

Kevin Webb, Conveyal Building a library of open-source solutions for transit planning

Tiffany Chu, Transitmix Building beautiful tools togather public input on transit routing