GTFS-Realtime and dynamic accessibility data for Google Maps Transit (vehicle-dependent real-time wheelchair icon)

[Bodo Minea]

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding GTFS-Realtime and accessibility information. I have implemented static GTFS for a large city which has a variety of vehicle types, some are wheelchair / stroller accessible, some are not. This is why I have omitted the wheelchair_accessible trips from my trips.txt data. I was studying a way to implement  displaying  this information in real-time manner, based on trip to vehicle association. Since we are already underway implementing  GTFS-Realtime for delays, alerts and vehicle positions (hence having trip to vehicle type and features correspondence), it seemed like a logical choice to provide this kind of information using GTFS-Realtime. However, I see no mention of wheelchair accessibility or any field of this sort in the protocol specificiation https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs-realtime/gtfs-realtime-proto. Is this really the case? Is no one providing such information in real-time / dynamic manner to Google Maps Transit? It seems to be a pretty obvious method to dynamically show or hide the accessibility icon on Google Maps Transit.

I would really appreciate any input on this matter.

Best regards,

Bogdan (Romania).

[Stefan de Konink]

On Sunday, November 21, 2021 5:01:53 PM CET, Bodo Minea wrote:
> Is this really the case? Is no one providing such information
> in real-time / dynamic manner to Google Maps Transit? It seems
> to be a pretty obvious method to dynamically show or hide the
> accessibility icon on Google Maps Transit.

There are some folks here that have created their custom extensions, such
as OVapi. I indeed agree that it is a logical place to have a
VehicleDescriptor with such information present.

https://gtfs.ovapi.nl/nl/gtfs-realtime-OVapi.proto

--
Stefan

[Sean Barbeau]

Bogdan,

If you're speaking of predictive wheelchair accessibility, there is a draft spec GTFS-ServiceChanges v3.1 that includes the ability to specify vehicle_properties that includes wheelchair_accessible:

http://bit.ly/gtfs-service-changes-v3_1

Overall, GTFS-ServiceChanges v3.1 mirrors static GTFS for additional fields that currently don't exist in GTFS Realtime. See a related proposal discussion here for adding drop_off_type and pickup_type from the same draft spec to the official GTFS Realtime proto:

https://github.com/google/transit/pull/265

I do agree that "real-time" data directly linked to the vehicle (like OccupancyStatus) does make sense to be housed in VehiclePosition.

Sean

[Тролейбусен Транспорт Плевен - ЕООД]

Hello people,

I am 18 years old and I am a big fan of the transport. Due to this fact I decided I could be helpful for the transport in my city - I contacted with the manager of our city transport company and he authorized me to provide timetables on the Static Feed on Google Maps last year. The feed has been working for about 1 year. By the way, you can check the transport system in my city - find Pleven, Bulgaria on Google Maps. So, since the feed is working I am wondering how I can provide the Live Feed on Transit section. I read a lot but I have no acquaintances in programming and I even don't know how to start. The thing I want to do is to provide the Feed with information about the accurate position of the vehicles and the delays or earlier arrivals. If somebody from this group can help me, I will be really thankful. I need info about the program I can work with and if possible one exact example which would be like a base for the other stuff. I will probably ask a lot of questions.

If somebody is interested in helping me, please contact with me on the following emails:

trolei...@gmail.com

kokoli...@gmail.com

Best regards,

Kaloyan Todorov