PR #544 [Governance] New GTFS Schedule Governance Proposal

[Elias Gino Cripotos]

A pull request has been opened presenting proposing an update to the current GTFS governance process based on two years of community feedback. Key improvements include clearer documentation, structured proposal phases, and revised voting requirements. Now, we’re inviting final discussions before calling a vote to adopt these changes.

Link: https://github.com/google/transit/pull/544 

[Elias Gino Cripotos]

Vote Launch

Hello GTFS Community,

After extending the review period and incorporating some of your feedback, we now feel confident in moving forward with a vote on this proposal. Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts—any insights not reflected in this version will be collected for future discussions.

Voting Requirements

As a reminder, here are the voting requirements under the [current GTFS governance](https://github.com/google/transit/blob/master/gtfs/CHANGES.md):

• Voting duration: The vote must remain open for at least 14 full calendar days and will close at 23:59:59 UTC on the final day. The specific end time should be clearly announced at the start of the vote.
• Allowed changes during voting: Only editorial revisions (e.g., fixing typos or clarifying wording) are allowed, as long as they do not alter the intent of the proposal.
• How to vote: Anyone may vote by commenting on the pull request with a “+1” or “-1.” Votes can be changed during the voting period by editing the original comment (e.g., striking through the initial vote and adding the new one).
• Timing of votes: Only votes submitted during the official voting period count. Votes made before the period begins are not considered.
• Approval criteria: The proposal is accepted if it receives unanimous “+1” votes  from at least 3 contributors, the advocate's vote does not count.
• Negative votes: Must include a reason and, ideally, suggestions for improvement.

Post-adoption steps

If the new governance is adopted:

• MobilityData proposes the following Adjustment Period:
  • All new PRs opened before adoption (successful vote) of the new governance will be subject to the current governance rules.
  • All PRs opened after adoption (successful vote) of the new governance will be subject to the new governance rules.
• MobilityData proposes to open an issue and/or host a meeting six months after adoption to gather feedback and evaluate how the proposal has been working in practice, determining if a revision is needed.

Voting Period

We are launching the vote for a period of 16 full calendar days to take into account the multiple national holidays across the globe. The vote will close on July 6,  2025 at 23:59:59 UTC.

VOTE HERE

Thank you for participating in this process and happy voting! 

[Elias Gino Cripotos]

The voting period is closed and the vote has passed. 7 votes in favor, 0 votes against.

+1 westontrillium (trillium)
+1 drewda (interline)
+1 gcamp (Transit App)
+1 bdferris-v2 (Google)
+1 tsherlockcraig (WSDOT)
+1 ffisherBART (BART)
+1 jfabi (MBTA)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Governance work to get this foundational proposal across the finish line. We will be posting updates on next steps and get the governance merged as soon as possible.