Overview
The General Transit Feed Specification—or GTFS—is an open format for packaging scheduled service data. GTFS data is produced by hundreds of transit agencies (including us) around the world to deliver content for inclusion in maps and directions-giving services, including Google Maps.
Note: GTFS was recently renamed from "Google Transit Feed Specification."
Learn more about the General Transit Feed Specification on Google Code.
A GTFS feed is typically presented as a series of text files with comma-separated values that conform to the specification. Each file is essentially a table in the relational database that is the whole package.
On this page...
Documentation
The General Transit Feed Specification is documented on a Google Code site.
Tables in our feed
We currently include the following tables in the PSTA GTFS Feed (links point to more detailed information on Google Code):
- agency.txt - basic agency information
- calendar.txt - defines which service IDs operate on which days
- calendar_dates.txt - has exceptions to calendar (such as a holiday when a Sunday schedule is operated)
- routes.txt - route list with unique identifiers
- shapes.txt - defines how to draw a route line on a map
- stop_times.txt - scheduled arrival/departure times for each stop on each trip
- stops.txt - list of stop locations for bus and train, also includes parent station info for trains
- trips.txt - has information about each trip taken by a PSTA vehicle
Quick Q&A
Q: How often is the GTFS data updated?
A: The data feed changes every quarter. So to keep up on changes, subscribe to the
Developer Opt-in Email List.Q: Which reroutes end up in your GTFS data?
A: We try to include as many reroutes as are practical in our data. However, short or unexpected reroutes are not included, due to the necessary lead-time to write and publish new schedule data.Q: Why is some seemingly-similar information in the GTFS feed slightly different than what's in the RidePSTA API?
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A: These feeds are essentially pathways into data we use for pre-existing systems. For example, routes are "patterns" in the RidePSTA API and routes are "shapes" in the GTFS feed. While these are very similar each is processed a little differently to serve the needs of
each system.
Get the Feed
The PSTA implementation of GTFS is the feed delivered in a ZIP file with 8 tables of GTFS data, plus an HTML file containing the license agreement (the Terms of Use).
Only one package is posted at any given time, typically representing PSTA service from now until a
couple of months in the future. Use the Calendar table to see on which days and dates service in the Trips table are effective.
Please fill out the form below, and click Submit to enter the download area. * indicates required field(s)
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See Further Reading for more information about how you might use this feed and our RidePSTA API (Real Time Bus Information) page.
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