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What is GTFS?

The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) [1] is a standard de facto for public transportation schedules and related geographic information. This format allows developers to build applications quite easily.

GTFS defines a set of files and their content. These files are simple CVS files that can be edited using a text editor or a common spreadsheets application. Some files are mandatory while others are optional.

The challenge

Matera municipality released bus timetables as opendata [2]. Unfortunately, these data are not in a machine readable format. The challenge is to translate [2] into GTFS.

We are going to focus only on required files at this stage, that is:

agency.txt
stops.txt
routes.txt
trips.txt
stop_times.txt
calendar.txt

We have a Google Spreadsheets [5] for this.

Moreover, we would like to create also shapes.txt file that shows how to draw bus routes on a map. In this case, we collect gps tracks using smartphones or other devices. Some people helped us to collect data for some lines. Collected tracks are stored in [3].

Roadmap and status