General Transit Feed Specification - Revision history

Dlcomeaux: /* Origins & history */ Adding updated information on number of public GTFS feeds in the US and globally

2019-12-02T18:12:21Z

Origins & history: Adding updated information on number of public GTFS feeds in the US and globally

Dlcomeaux: /* The Many Uses of GTFS Data--A Summary */ Changed link placements for consistency + minor grammar fixes.

2019-11-25T21:20:00Z

The Many Uses of GTFS Data--A Summary: Changed link placements for consistency + minor grammar fixes.

Transnnovationinc at 15:42, 20 August 2019

2019-08-20T15:42:06Z

Transnnovationinc at 15:40, 20 August 2019

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Transnnovationinc at 15:39, 20 August 2019

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Transnnovationinc at 15:37, 20 August 2019

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Transnnovationinc at 15:24, 20 August 2019

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Transnnovationinc at 15:21, 20 August 2019

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Transnnovationinc at 15:14, 20 August 2019

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 After a successful launch with TriMet, Google Transit offered their trip planner service for free to any agency that formatted and maintained their data in the GTFS format.  In 2006, five more agencies were added.  Google Transit’s success continued as more and more agencies wanted access to a free trip planner, and were willing to put their data into the GTFS format to get it.
-Since its creation in 2005, GTFS has become the most popularly-used data format to describe fixed-route transit services in the world. Many agencies have decided to share their GTFS data openly with the public, while others choose to restrict access only to select partners (e.g., Google Maps). As of January 15, 2016, there were are an estimated 1026 transit agencies worldwide, including 864 transit agencies in the U.S., that share their GTFS data openly with the general public<ref>Front Seat Management, LLC. "City-Go-Round." Accessed January 15, 2016 from http://www.citygoround.org/agencies/</ref>. As of August 20, 2015, Google lists  approximately 5900 agencies around the world for Google Transit coverage<ref>Google, Inc. "Transit – Google Maps." Accessed August 20, 2015 from http://maps.google.com/landing/transit/cities/index.html</ref>, however, some of this transit information is probably derived from sources other than GTFS.
+Since its creation in 2005, GTFS has become the most popularly-used data format to describe fixed-route transit services in the world. Many agencies have decided to share their GTFS data openly with the public, while others choose to restrict access only to select partners (e.g., Google Maps). As of January 15, 2016, there were an estimated 1026 transit agencies worldwide, including 864 transit agencies in the U.S., that share their GTFS data openly with the general public<ref>Front Seat Management, LLC. "City-Go-Round." Accessed January 15, 2016 from http://www.citygoround.org/agencies/</ref>. As of December 2, 2019, OpenMobilityData lists 1233 providers with publicly accessible GTFS feeds, 465 of which are in the United States<ref><nowiki>https://openmobilitydata.org/feeds</nowiki></ref>. As of August 20, 2015, Google lists approximately 5900 agencies around the world for Google Transit coverage<ref>Google, Inc. "Transit – Google Maps." Accessed August 20, 2015 from http://maps.google.com/landing/transit/cities/index.html</ref>, however, some of this transit information is probably derived from sources other than GTFS.
 Even though many transit agencies created GTFS feeds with the primary purpose of benefiting from the free Google Transit trip planner, application developers, often not affiliated with the agency or Google, quickly realized that they could also create many new types of services based on the same GTFS transit data.

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 ==The Many Uses of GTFS Data--A Summary==
-"The Many Uses of GTFS Data", published by Antrim and Barbeau (2013), provides an overview of the GTFS opportunities for transit agencies and describes many different uses and benefits that can assist agencies in maximizing their investment in GTFS data.<ref>[https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq2ko64j2eth5mt/The%20Many%20Uses%20of%20GTFS%20Data%20%E2%80%93%20Opening%20the%20Door%20to%20Transit%20Applications-postTRB4%20-%20changes%20accepted.docx?dl=0 The Many Uses of GTFS Data]</ref>
+"The Many Uses of GTFS Data", published by Antrim and Barbeau (2013), provides an overview of the GTFS opportunities for transit agencies and describes many different uses and benefits that can assist agencies in maximizing their investment in GTFS data<ref>[https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq2ko64j2eth5mt/The%20Many%20Uses%20of%20GTFS%20Data%20%E2%80%93%20Opening%20the%20Door%20to%20Transit%20Applications-postTRB4%20-%20changes%20accepted.docx?dl=0 The Many Uses of GTFS Data]</ref>.
 ===Creating and Maintaining a GTFS Dataset===
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 *'''In-House'''
-:If the agency has sufficient in-house technical expertise, they may wish to produce and maintain the GTFS feed themselves.  Several of the industry-standard scheduling software packages from vendors such as Trapeze<ref>[http://www.trapezegroup.com/ Trapeze Group Limited]</ref>, HASTUS <ref>[http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm Giro, Inc. "HASTUS - Transit scheduling and operations."]</ref> , Connexionz<ref>[http://www.connexionz.us/home Connexionz Limited. "Smart Transit Solutions."]</ref>, and TripSpark (formerly Mentor Engineering) <ref>[http://www.tripspark.com/ Mentor Engineering. "TripSpark."]</ref> can often export agency data into the GTFS format, facilitating the GTFS creation & maintenance process.  However, agencies should not necessarily assume that the output of these tools produces perfect GTFS data, as agencies have indicated that they often still need to perform manual data processing on the GTFS data exported from these tools before it will be acceptable for application use <ref>[http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34000/34053/FDOT_BDK85_977-12_rpt.pdf Sean Barbeau, Nevine Labib Georggi, and Philip Winters (2010). "Travel Assistance Device (TAD) -- Deployment to Transit Agencies," National Center for Transit Research.]</ref>.
+:If the agency has sufficient in-house technical expertise, they may wish to produce and maintain the GTFS feed themselves.  Several of the industry-standard scheduling software packages from vendors such as Trapeze<ref>[http://www.trapezegroup.com/ Trapeze Group Limited]</ref>, HASTUS<ref>[http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm Giro, Inc. "HASTUS - Transit scheduling and operations."]</ref> , Connexionz<ref>[http://www.connexionz.us/home Connexionz Limited. "Smart Transit Solutions."]</ref>, and TripSpark (formerly Mentor Engineering)<ref>[http://www.tripspark.com/ Mentor Engineering. "TripSpark."]</ref> can often export agency data into the GTFS format, facilitating the GTFS creation & maintenance process.  However, agencies should not necessarily assume that the output of these tools produces perfect GTFS data, as agencies have indicated that they often still need to perform manual data processing on the GTFS data exported from these tools before it will be acceptable for application use<ref>[http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34000/34053/FDOT_BDK85_977-12_rpt.pdf Sean Barbeau, Nevine Labib Georggi, and Philip Winters (2010). "Travel Assistance Device (TAD) -- Deployment to Transit Agencies," National Center for Transit Research.]</ref>.
-:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
+:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]]<ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form].
 In order to create and maintain GTFS, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the specification. Several [[GTFS training materials]] are available.
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 *'''Outsource'''
-:Vendors such as Trillium Solutions, Inc. <ref>[http://trilliumtransit.com/gtfs/ Trillium Solutions, Inc.]</ref>, TransitEditor<ref>[http://www.transiteditor.com/index.php?q=en/home TransitEditor. "TransitEditor."]</ref>,  and Next Insight Transportation Software<ref>[http://nextinsight.com/services.php Next Insight Transportation Software. "Conductor."]</ref> provide tools and services that can aid agencies in formatting and maintaining their data in GTFS format, ranging from online tools that are operated by the agency to a full service model where the vendor creates the GTFS data for the agency.  A list of vendors that provide full-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
+:Vendors such as Trillium Solutions, Inc.<ref>[http://trilliumtransit.com/gtfs/ Trillium Solutions, Inc.]</ref>, TransitEditor<ref>[http://www.transiteditor.com/index.php?q=en/home TransitEditor. "TransitEditor."]</ref>,  and Next Insight Transportation Software<ref>[http://nextinsight.com/services.php Next Insight Transportation Software. "Conductor."]</ref> provide tools and services that can aid agencies in formatting and maintaining their data in GTFS format, ranging from online tools that are operated by the agency to a full service model where the vendor creates the GTFS data for the agency.  A list of vendors that provide full-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form].
 :The cost for a transit agency to hire a vendor or consultant to create GTFS data is usually around $200-$500 per route, depending on the level of effort required<ref>[http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/MassTrans/Docs-Pdfs/CoordinatedPlng/google.feasibility.study.pdf Northern California Google Transit Feasibility Study] </ref>.  Level of effort is determined by the number of stops, complexity and variation of the routes and schedules, and the availability and quality of existing stop location, schedule, and route alignment data.
 ===Disseminating GTFS Data===
-Read full page on GTFS Data Dissemination here: [[GTFS Data Dissemination]]
+See [[GTFS Data Dissemination]] for a more detailed overview.
-Some agencies have chosen to share their transit data with select vendors such as Google Transit. They are typically concerned with legal exposure due to the lack of accuracy of data, loss of control of agency brand, and loss of control of dissemination of transit service information. However, many others feel the benefits of open transit data outweigh the risks, since developers can screen-scrape agency websites, which is not ideal for either party. Currently, over 200 transit agencies  in the United States have chosen to openly share their GTFS data. <ref>[http://www.citygoround.org/agencies/ City-Go-Round] </ref>
+Some agencies have chosen to share their transit data with select vendors such as Google Transit. They are typically concerned with legal exposure due to the lack of accuracy of data, loss of control of agency brand, and loss of control of dissemination of transit service information. However, many others feel the benefits of open transit data outweigh the risks, since developers can screen-scrape agency websites, which is not ideal for either party. Currently, over 200 transit agencies  in the United States have chosen to openly share their GTFS data<ref>[http://www.citygoround.org/agencies/ City-Go-Round] </ref>.
-The Google Transit Partner Program allows public transportation agencies to provide schedules and geographic information to Google Maps and other Google applications that show transit information. The website provides instructions for agencies just starting the GTFS sharing process and gives suggestions on how to create high-quality feeds. <ref>[http://maps.google.com/help/maps/mapcontent/transit/index.html Google Transit Partner Program] </ref> For agencies that wish to make their data available to everyone, they can share the feeds on websites such as GTFS Data Exchange, which was designed to help developers and transit agencies efficiently share and retrieve GTFS data. <ref>[http://www.gtfs-data-exchange.com/ GTFS Data Exchange] </ref>
+The Google Transit Partner Program allows public transportation agencies to provide schedules and geographic information to Google Maps and other Google applications that show transit information. The website provides instructions for agencies just starting the GTFS sharing process and gives suggestions on how to create high-quality feeds<ref>[http://maps.google.com/help/maps/mapcontent/transit/index.html Google Transit Partner Program] </ref>. For agencies that wish to make their data available to everyone, they can share the feeds on websites such as GTFS Data Exchange, which was designed to help developers and transit agencies efficiently share and retrieve GTFS data<ref>[http://www.gtfs-data-exchange.com/ GTFS Data Exchange] </ref>.
 ===Applications Based on GTFS===

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 :If the agency has sufficient in-house technical expertise, they may wish to produce and maintain the GTFS feed themselves.  Several of the industry-standard scheduling software packages from vendors such as Trapeze<ref>[http://www.trapezegroup.com/ Trapeze Group Limited]</ref>, HASTUS <ref>[http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm Giro, Inc. "HASTUS - Transit scheduling and operations."]</ref> , Connexionz<ref>[http://www.connexionz.us/home Connexionz Limited. "Smart Transit Solutions."]</ref>, and TripSpark (formerly Mentor Engineering) <ref>[http://www.tripspark.com/ Mentor Engineering. "TripSpark."]</ref> can often export agency data into the GTFS format, facilitating the GTFS creation & maintenance process.  However, agencies should not necessarily assume that the output of these tools produces perfect GTFS data, as agencies have indicated that they often still need to perform manual data processing on the GTFS data exported from these tools before it will be acceptable for application use <ref>[http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34000/34053/FDOT_BDK85_977-12_rpt.pdf Sean Barbeau, Nevine Labib Georggi, and Philip Winters (2010). "Travel Assistance Device (TAD) -- Deployment to Transit Agencies," National Center for Transit Research.]</ref>.
-:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program [[National Rural Transit Assistance Program]] <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
+:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
 In order to create and maintain GTFS, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the specification. Several [[GTFS training materials]] are available.

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 :If the agency has sufficient in-house technical expertise, they may wish to produce and maintain the GTFS feed themselves.  Several of the industry-standard scheduling software packages from vendors such as Trapeze<ref>[http://www.trapezegroup.com/ Trapeze Group Limited]</ref>, HASTUS <ref>[http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm Giro, Inc. "HASTUS - Transit scheduling and operations."]</ref> , Connexionz<ref>[http://www.connexionz.us/home Connexionz Limited. "Smart Transit Solutions."]</ref>, and TripSpark (formerly Mentor Engineering) <ref>[http://www.tripspark.com/ Mentor Engineering. "TripSpark."]</ref> can often export agency data into the GTFS format, facilitating the GTFS creation & maintenance process.  However, agencies should not necessarily assume that the output of these tools produces perfect GTFS data, as agencies have indicated that they often still need to perform manual data processing on the GTFS data exported from these tools before it will be acceptable for application use <ref>[http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34000/34053/FDOT_BDK85_977-12_rpt.pdf Sean Barbeau, Nevine Labib Georggi, and Philip Winters (2010). "Travel Assistance Device (TAD) -- Deployment to Transit Agencies," National Center for Transit Research.]</ref>.
-:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program [[National Rural Transit Assistance Program]] <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder. "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
+:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program [[National Rural Transit Assistance Program]] <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
 In order to create and maintain GTFS, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the specification. Several [[GTFS training materials]] are available.

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 :If the agency has sufficient in-house technical expertise, they may wish to produce and maintain the GTFS feed themselves.  Several of the industry-standard scheduling software packages from vendors such as Trapeze<ref>[http://www.trapezegroup.com/ Trapeze Group Limited]</ref>, HASTUS <ref>[http://www.giro.ca/en/products/hastus/index.htm Giro, Inc. "HASTUS - Transit scheduling and operations."]</ref> , Connexionz<ref>[http://www.connexionz.us/home Connexionz Limited. "Smart Transit Solutions."]</ref>, and TripSpark (formerly Mentor Engineering) <ref>[http://www.tripspark.com/ Mentor Engineering. "TripSpark."]</ref> can often export agency data into the GTFS format, facilitating the GTFS creation & maintenance process.  However, agencies should not necessarily assume that the output of these tools produces perfect GTFS data, as agencies have indicated that they often still need to perform manual data processing on the GTFS data exported from these tools before it will be acceptable for application use <ref>[http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34000/34053/FDOT_BDK85_977-12_rpt.pdf Sean Barbeau, Nevine Labib Georggi, and Philip Winters (2010). "Travel Assistance Device (TAD) -- Deployment to Transit Agencies," National Center for Transit Research.]</ref>.
-:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program [[National Rural Transit Assistance Program]] <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder] "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder"</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
+:For agencies who do not have access to sophisticated scheduling software, there are a variety of open-source and vendor-based tools that can be used for creating and maintaining GTFS data.  One free spreadsheet-based tool is the Excel Toolkit “GTFS Builder” by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program [[National Rural Transit Assistance Program]] <ref>[https://www.nationalrtap.org/Web-Apps/GTFS-Builder. "National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) GTFS Builder."]</ref>.  OpenPlans, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that produces open-source civic software, started an open-source web-based GTFS Editing Tool that is now maintained by [[Conveyal]] <ref>[https://github.com/conveyal/gtfs-editor Conveyal. "GTFS Editor."]</ref>.  For agencies without high-quality bus stop inventories, the open-source GTFS-OpenStreetMap Synchronization tool (GO-Sync) can help leverage crowd-sourced improvements of their GTFS bus stop inventory<ref>[https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/gtfs-osm-sync Khoa Tran, Edward L. Hillsman, S. Barbeau, and M. A. Labrador (2011), "GO-Sync- A Framework to Synchronize Crowd-Sourced Mapping Contributions from Online Communities and Transit Agency Bus Stop Inventories," in ITS World Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 16, 2011.]</ref>.  The open-source mobile app [[TransitWand]] can also help when in the data collection process when creating a new GTFS dataset.  There are also many educational resources available online from the transit developer community for agencies interested in creating a GTFS feed<ref>[http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/OtherGTFSTools Google Transit Data Feed. "Other GTFS Tools."]</ref> <ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/google-transit-partner-support Google, Inc. "Google Transit Partner Support Google Group."]</ref>. Remix<ref>[http://getremix.com/ Get Remix Team. "Get Remix"]</ref> is a product for quickly sketching out transit routes and generating GTFS data.  TransLoc offers their web-based GTFS tool, TransLoc Architect<ref>[http://pages.transloc.com/architect-beta-signup/ TransLoc. "TransLoc Architect"]</ref>, to agencies for free.  A list of vendors that provide self-service products and services for GTFS creation and maintenance can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gc9mu4BIYC8ORpv2IbbVnT3q8VQ3xkeY7Hz068vT_GQ/pubhtml here].  If you'd like to add a vendor/product to this list, please use [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XZl1cHDh9NUl9r7Eq-j9RuwVJlfjgPE8IBOb54oe138/viewform this form]
 In order to create and maintain GTFS, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the specification. Several [[GTFS training materials]] are available.