Transit Data Standards Resource Directory

The Transit Data Standards Resource Directory aims to support the discovery and access to transit services by providing information and tools to help agencies understand and implement data standards (or the digital format and order of operations for communicating information about transit service). When agencies and vendors agree to follow data standards, systems can exchange information automatically, saving staff time, reducing errors, increasing access, and making coordination possible at a scale that would otherwise be too costly to manage.

Why Data Standards

Consider these scenarios…

• A rider searches for transportation on a smartphone app, but your service doesn’t appear, even though you serve that exact area. So he calls a cab instead, or skips the appointment.
• You and the transit agency one county over could easily share trips and save money for both of you. But handing off a trip means a phone call, a re-entry into their system, and a hope that nothing gets lost. So you mostly just don’t bother to coordinate.

These scenarios and many others could be resolved using data standards and demonstrate the importance of mobility and access to one’s quality of life. 

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, offering a clearer picture on transit’s availability and how to access and pay for it. Data standards also support compliance and NTD reporting.

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 so riders can find it: If your agency offers any kind of flexible or DRT service, ask your scheduling vendor or State DOT whether your service information is published in a format that trip-planning apps can read. 
• 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 staff time constraints when adopting a new technology, and more broadly serve as an opportunity to bring agencies together to discuss transit and technology needs. 

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

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