What is GTFS?

What is GTFS?

The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is a file set that communicates information about the schedule and operations of your transit system.

How does Swiftly use GTFS?

Swiftly uses the GTFS file set for two key purposes: to display route shapes in the dashboard and to use your agency's schedule to create reliability insights and prediction information. For example, in the image below, our Live Map product uses GTFS to create the purple line that represents a transit route. 

Another example of where we use GTFS is in our On-Time Performance product. In the image below, Swiftly uses schedule information from GTFS to measure schedule adherence of your transit fleet.  

Deep Dive into GTFS for Swiftly

GTFS was created in the mid-2000s by transit planners and Google. It is a standardized file set format used in public transportation to communicate schedules and route information for a specific transit system. Check out Google's own overview of GTFS. 

As mentioned above, Swiftly utilizes GTFS for many different parts of our dashboard. At Swiftly we will ask every customer for a GTFS-Static zip file, note we will typically refer to this as your GTFS, and that file should include the following:

• • agency.txt
  •  stops.txt
  •  routes.txt
  •  stop_times.txt
  •  calendar.txt*
  • calendar_dates.txt*
  •  shapes.txt
  • block_id.tx

*For Swiftly we recommend providing both a calendar.txt and calendar_dates.txt file. If you can only provide one file, that should be fine, but please contact us if you have any questions. 

How is GTFS-Static different from GTFS-RT?

In some cases, there is confusion around GTFS-Static and GTFS-Realtime. The key differences between the two are as follows:

• GTFS-Static is the file set that contains all information for your agency's expected schedule and route information. This is the information you plan for your public transportation system.
• GTFS-Realtime is a real-time vehicle position. This information is the reality of where your transit fleet is at an exact moment in time. Learn more about GTFS-Realtime 

Who provides GTFS?

Many agencies have folks internally that create and manage their GTFS information, but also agencies use a GTFS manager, such as Trillium, a GTFS management company.

If your GTFS feed is managed by Trillium

If your GTFS feed is managed by Trillium, please contact them about any of the above changes that you want to be changed: [e-mail]. Changes to GTFS may require detailed information from you, such as schedule tables, maps, or a list of stop locations. Discuss with your Trillium manager what kind of information they need to implement these changes.

Any changes to the GTFS data are posted as a new GTFS revision. Trillium posts new revisions to a special URL that Swiftly polls every few hours; Swiftly will detect when new revisions are posted, then process them in Transitime. The revision (and all the changes that come with it) will "go live" once the servers restart, which occurs every evening at around midnight local time. It may take up to 24 hours to process a GTFS revision after it's been posted. Learn more about Swiftly's intake of revised or new GTFS files. 

If your GTFS feed is managed internally

Swiftly likely has an established method of retrieving GTFS revisions. In the best cases, GTFS revisions are posted to a special URL that Swiftly polls every few hours. In some cases, revisions are provided directly by email.

If you're unsure of who manages your GTFS internally, ask your direct supervisor/manager.