DRT Data Specifications Working Group

Introduction

The Demand-Response Transportation Data Specifications Working Group is a collaborative initiative hosted by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program. We bring together public and private stakeholders to share information, discuss challenges, advance best practices, and support the development of technical standards that streamline the coordination of DRT services and improve rider access to convenient travel opportunities. 

 

The working group has grown to over 100 participants in various capacities dedicated to furthering DRT data standards. We focus on data standards and supporting resources and tools relevant to rural and tribal transit agencies (although the data standards and supporting resources and tools reach beyond these geographic areas). 


The working group is helping to inform a DRT Transit Data Standards Resource Directory and supporting capacity building tools.

Transit Data Standards Resource Directory

Why Data Standards?


Data standards are foundational components of a modern transit system. While standards like the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) are already industry staples for fixed-route discovery and trip planning, others, such as the Transactional Data Specification (TDS) are still gaining traction. These other data standards, like the TDS, support different stages of a transit trip—from initial discovery to scheduling, dispatching, payment, trip confirmation, client billing, and reporting. By providing a universal manner to digitally share this information among participating entities, these standards ensure that the technology platforms used by different providers are interoperable and the solutions are replicable. This allows agencies to build upon their existing systems, increasing operational efficiency, avoiding vendor lock-in, and ultimately expanding access for all riders.


See the recently published article to learn more!

Seamless Rides: A Practitioner’s Guide to DRT Data Standards and What They Mean for Your Agency


Get Involved 


Our group meets bi-monthly. To participate, please reach out to our conveners: 


Al Benedict                                                                                           Jana Lynott, AICP

Technology Tools / Community Rides Grant Program Leads               Senior Transportation Planner

National RTAP                                                                                      Independent Transit Consultant       

albenedict@nationalrtap.org                                                             jana@janalynott.com


Working Group Meetings


Upcoming Meetings


September 2026

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 - 2:00 to 3:15 Eastern Time (contact group facilitators if interested)

  • Welcome/Introduction new group members
  • Industry Updates
  • Carol Schweiger, President at Schweiger Consulting,  Multimodal Access for All Travelers (MAT) Reservations, Scheduling, Dispatching (RSD) Subcommittee 
  • Sarah Abel, Vice President Innovation Mobility, ITS America, Interoperability Roadmap
  • DRT Service Area Boundaries / GTFS-Flex Builder
  • Marcy Jaffe, National RTAP’s GTFS SME, Transnnovation Inc will demonstrate the newest National RTAP technology tool for rural transit providers. This nimble web based solution creates, modifies and outputs service area boundaries as well as their booking rules standardized as GTFS-Flex. The DRT service area map will be available to publish at an agency's website, including Website Builder (which we will have a short demo on), or other websites using the portable iFrame.


November 2026

  • Marketing and Education Budget for Implementing of New Transit Technology
  • Overview Michigan DOT Toolkit and Agency Implementation
  • Details//Date Coming Soon


Past Meetings


June 2026


  • John Andoh, former Transit Manager for Redding Area Bus Authority (RABA) talked about the recent open-loop payments deployment in Redding, CA and the lessons learned implementing across urban and rural areas. The discussion also touched on the benefits of open-loop payments and how rural communities can get started.




        View the presentation slides here.


March 2026


Comparing and Contrasting DRT Standards:

Santosh Mishra, President & CEO of Flexlynqs, compared and contrasted existing and developing standards, including GTFS-Flex, TDS, GOFS, and TOMP-API.


Access the slides here


USDOT MAT RSD Update:

Carol Schweiger, President, Schweiger Consulting, provided an update on the U.S. DOT Multi-modal Access for All Travelers (MAT) Reservations, Scheduling, and Dispatch (RSD) Sub-committee’s work to date and plans for 2026.


Access the slides here


Updated on June 18, 2026