Bus Company GTFS data problems
ethan a
I'm trying to use the "Bus Company" GTFS data but the routes.txt file
is corrupt and lacking data.
The first 2 rows show all the problems:
route_id, route_short_name, route_long_name, route_desc, route_type
742, , B100, null, 3
First row:
- missing "agency_id" (2nd parameter), it should be:
route_id, agency_id, route_short_name,
route_long_name, route_desc, route_type
The second and all subsequent rows:
- has a field for agency_id, but it is blank.
- route_long_name says "null" for all routes
- the route_desc column is missing entirely (no comma)
Are you planning to correct this file?
Thanks!
-ethan
David Turner
is and how to use it, but if not, please check the archives of this
list.
I half wrote a converter to GTFS but got distracted; I am looking for
someone who has some time to finish it off:
http://github.com/novalis/ImproveMtaGtfs
David Turner
Awesome!g
Ethan Arutunian
It is _nearly_ GTFS, but it is missing some columns compared to the
other data sets.
The most critical of these for me is the "direction_id" column in the
file "trips.txt". It's the only missing column that we rely on that
column in our system (needs to be 0 or 1). I'm probably going to have to
figure out my own direction ID's based on the Headsign, but I can tell
already there are some cases where it could get tricky.
Other than that, I'm able to get this to work as GTFS by simply adding
the missing columns (but not filling in the data).
Would it be possible to get Direction ID's? That would be awesome!
-ethan
Brian Bush
On Oct 13, 6:33 pm, Ethan Arutunian <j...@arutunian.com> wrote:
> It is _nearly_ GTFS, but it is missing some columns compared to the
> other data sets.
>
> The most critical of these for me is the "direction_id" column in the
> file "trips.txt". It's the only missing column that we rely on that
> column in our system (needs to be 0 or 1). I'm probably going to have to
> figure out my own direction ID's based on the Headsign, but I can tell
> already there are some cases where it could get tricky.
>
> Other than that, I'm able to get this to work as GTFS by simply adding
> the missing columns (but not filling in the data).
>
> Would it be possible to get Direction ID's? That would be awesome!
>
> -ethan
>
> On 10/13/10 3:19 PM, David Turner wrote:
>
> > Oh, wait a second here -- it's totally GTFS now.
>
> > Awesome!g
>
> > On Thu, 2010-09-30 at 16:57 -0400, David Turner wrote:
> >> The file is not GTFS. I believe it comes with a PDF explaining what it
> >> is and how to use it, but if not, please check the archives of this
> >> list.
>
> >> I half wrote a converter to GTFS but got distracted; I am looking for
> >> someone who has some time to finish it off:
> >>http://github.com/novalis/ImproveMtaGtfs
>
Brian Bush
> other data sets.
>
> The most critical of these for me is the "direction_id" column in the
> file "trips.txt". It's the only missing column that we rely on that
> column in our system (needs to be 0 or 1). I'm probably going to have to
> figure out my own direction ID's based on the Headsign, but I can tell
> already there are some cases where it could get tricky.
>
> Other than that, I'm able to get this to work as GTFS by simply adding
> the missing columns (but not filling in the data).
>
> Would it be possible to get Direction ID's? That would be awesome!
>
> -ethan
>
> On 10/13/10 3:19 PM, David Turner wrote:
>
> > Oh, wait a second here -- it's totally GTFS now.
>
> > Awesome!g
>
> > On Thu, 2010-09-30 at 16:57 -0400, David Turner wrote:
> >> The file is not GTFS. I believe it comes with a PDF explaining what it
> >> is and how to use it, but if not, please check the archives of this
> >> list.
>
> >> I half wrote a converter to GTFS but got distracted; I am looking for
> >> someone who has some time to finish it off:
> >>http://github.com/novalis/ImproveMtaGtfs
>
Aaron Donovan
I'm afraid we don't have direct control over the MTA Bus Company
schedule data format. It has been graciously and painstakingly
converted into GTFS as a favor by good folks who work as contractors
to the New York State Dept. of Transportation. I'm told that it would
be difficult to make any new changes to the format.
-Aaron
Ethan Arutunian
Thanks for getting back to us. We all appreciate the hard work you guys
are doing over there to make this data available.
We've had lots of requests from Roadify users for these buses, so we're
still hoping to make it work. If I'm able to come up with the direction
ID's, I will send the updates your way.
-ethan
John Larsen
they have direction Id's associated with them. After spot checking the
other boroughs, they all seem to have direction ID's.
Joe Hughes
optional field [1]. If you have any interest in using your software
for other cities, it may be worth finding a way to make it work on
data without direction_id fields.
Cheers,
Joe
[1] http://j.mp/9s1f1v
Ethan Arutunian
That is correct, it is optional in the spec. However, as Google indicates:
"This field is not used in routing; it provides a way to separate
trips by direction when publishing time tables."
That's how we're using it in Roadify -- to separate trips by direction
when publishing time tables. Pretty handy. It also allows us to
consolidate different trips, which might have two different head signs,
as going in the same direction.
Thanks for all the feedback. We're still hoping to find a way to use
this data.
-ethan
Ethan Arutunian
Got me excited, but I'm referring to the fileset entitled "Bus Company"
(not New York City Transit - Bus). The DirectionID column is normally
found in the "trips.txt" file. I only see these columns:
route_id, service_id, trip_id, trip_headsign, shape_id
Fileset says it was updated July 15, 2010. Are you seeing something
different?
Thanks!
-ethan