GTFS-ride: ridership data tools and publishing

A ridership-data website, conversion tools, and visualization app developed with Oregon State University.

Visit GTFS-ride Explore Oregon’s open transit data

Client / collaborator

Audience

Transit agency staff, transportation researchers, and software developers

Services

Data standards implementation · Open-source development · Data visualization · Website development

01 / Oregon State University
GTFS-ride visualization app showing Josephine Community Transit ridership grouped by day.View full screenshot

Client / collaborator

Audience

Transit agency staff, transportation researchers, and software developers

Services

Data standards implementation · Open-source development · Data visualization · Website development

Project overview

The challenge

Transit agencies collect passenger counts in different formats. Turning those records into consistent, shareable ridership data requires tools that connect automated passenger counts with the routes, stops, and trips in GTFS.

Our work

Working with Oregon State University, BlinkTag supported GTFS-ride development and adoption by creating its public website, an open-source data conversion tool, and a ridership visualization app.

A public home for the standard

We built gtfsride.org with an introduction, quick-start guidance, the specification, and community resources for agencies and developers.

GTFS-ride public website introducing the ridership data standard. — 02 / Oregon State University
The public-facing GTFS-ride website.View full screenshot

From passenger counts to standardized data

We built node-gtfs-ride to generate GTFS-ride files from GTFS schedules and automated passenger counter (APC) records. The command-line tool supports GMV, Swiftly, and Passio formats, with inputs from local files, hosted CSV files, or the Swiftly API.

Explore ridership in a browser

We created Ridership App, an open-source web application with charts, maps, and downloadable CSV files. Users can group ridership by route, stop, trip, date, day of week, or time of day. Public demonstrations use data from Josephine Community Transit and South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART).

Explore Josephine Community Transit ridership

Explore SMART ridership

Helping agencies publish

We worked with four transit agencies to create and publish GTFS-ride data, including Josephine Community Transit, Rogue Valley Transportation District, Lane Transit District and SMART in Oregon. This included publication on Oregon DOT’s Oregon GTFS open-data website.