Transit Data Standards Resource Directory

When agencies and their technology vendors agree to use a common digital ‘language’ they can seamlessly exchange data internally across their systems and externally with other agencies and their customers. Data standardization saves staff time, reduces errors,  and makes coordination possible at a scale that would otherwise be too costly to manage. 

Explore our Transit Data Standards Resource Directory to understand the data specifications and supporting resources relevant to rural transportation providers. Organized with the Complete Trip in mind, they support all aspects from agency operations, to rider needs, including planning, scheduling, booking, paying, and reporting.

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

Why Data Standards

• Rider Discovery: A rider searches for transportation on his phone, but your service doesn’t appear–so he calls a cab instead, or skips the appointment.
• Efficient Reporting: Your staff spends hours preparing your agency’s report to the National Transit Database. 
• Service Coordination: You and your neighboring transit agency could easily share trips and save money. But handing off a trip means a phone call, duplicate data entry,  and a hope that nothing gets lost along the way. You end up not coordinating because it’s too cumbersome. 

These scenarios and many others could be resolved using data standards. 

Data standards are key elements in the overall technology toolbox that give agencies the opportunity to use transit as a proactive tool to meet the needs of a community. They offer riders a clearer picture on transit’s availability and an easy way for them to access it. Data standards also support compliance and facilitate NTD reporting and service coordination. While some data standards are widely used, such as the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), others are not yet as widely accepted. Wider adoption could support greater efficiencies, freeing staff to do higher value work. Most importantly, they could enhance the customer experience and increase access to transportation services. 

What are the Industry Needs

While some data standards are widely used, like the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) that supports the discovery of fixed-route transit service and is the engine behind trip planner platforms, others are not yet as widely accepted. Limited understanding, agency staffing, budget constraints, understanding new technologies, and coordination with the private sector and other public agencies often pose the biggest barriers to transit data standards adoption.

If transit data standards were more fully realized, these barriers could turn to assets, freeing agency staff time, increasing staffing capacity, supporting efficiency, increasing access, and saving financial resources.

How You Can Support this Work

You don’t need to wait for every standard to be finalized to start benefiting from this work. These practical steps apply regardless of your agency’s size or technology know-how.

• Publish your DRT service feeds in the GTFS format so riders can find it: If your agency offers any kind of flexible or DRT service, ask your software vendor, or in cases where State DOTs oversee GTFS development, to provide a GTFS-Flex feed. 
• Ask your vendors the right questions: When renewing contracts or issuing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for scheduling or billing software, ask specifically: Is your company open to using data standards to communicate transit availability and operations? Can your system share trip information with another agency using a different platform? 
• Use common language in your agreements: Use industry accepted terms for levels of service and modes of transportation. Common definitions reduce disputes, simplify audits, and prepare your agency for the more formal data exchange standards still in development.
• Strengthen and Build Local Partnerships: Start by finding out who else in your region is already trying to solve the same problem. A neighboring transit agency, a hospital system dealing with missed appointments, or a regional planning organization are all natural starting points. One conversation often reveals that the groundwork for coordination already exists and just needs someone to formalize it.
• Look to State DOTs and MPOs for Support: State DOTs and regional MPOs are in a unique position to support rural and Tribal transit technology needs. Both can provide economies of scale for technology investments, enhance smaller agencies’ technical capacity, alleviate the burden on staff , and more broadly serve as an opportunity to bring agencies together to discuss transit and technology needs. 
• Participate in the National RTAP DRT Data Specifications Working Group to learn more and help to inform the industry.

       (National RTAP article: Seamless Trips: A Practitioner's Guide to Data Standards, Mishra et. al, for a DRT data standards overview)

Help us build the Transit Data Standards Resource Directory - Use this survey to share resources and feedback to support this tool!