In a joint effort, the Brown County Planning Commission/MPO and Green Bay Metro created an online transit routing application that is powered by Google Maps. This application gives users the ability to search Green Bay Metro's existing transit routes, bus stops, and pick-up times to help plan bus trips from beginning to end using the internet or mobile technologies. The Brown County Planning Commission developed the Google
Transit Feeds (GTF) based on Google’s specifications by
incorporating tables and geospatial data within its existing
transportation geodatabase schema. The GTF was developed using GPS, ArcMap, ArcSDE, SQL Server, DTS, and Google Transit open source software. The Brown County Planning Commission/MPO GTF presentation will provide information on
how to get started in developing the GTF, advantages,
disadvantages, future obstacles, and lessons learned throughout the Google Transit development experience. A live demo of the application will be shown following the presentation.
1. Green Bay Google Transit
October 29, 2008
Brown County Planning Commission/Green Bay MPO
Cole Runge, Principal Planner/MPO Director
Lisa Conard, Planner (Transportation)
Tim Hennig, Planner (Transportation/GIS)
Brown County Information Technology Department
Carrie Borofka, Programmer Analyst
Green Bay Metro
Chris Phelps, Green Bay Metro Director
Google
Google Transit Team
2. Brief History
• In 2005, all of Green
Bay Metro’s bus stops were
mapped via
GPS coordinates. This
information was used as
part of the Google
Transit development
(Thanks Eric Heidenreiter
and the help from other
interns).
3. The Creation of Green Bay’s Google Transit
Brown County Planning Commission/Green Bay MPO developed the
Google Transit feeds using its geographic information system (GIS).
• Additional GIS and tabular data was developed within a MS SQL
Server/ArcSDE enterprise geodatabase environment.
Implemented Google Transit feed specifications as part of Brown County’s
transportation geodatabase model schema.
Scripting data transformation services (DTS) of GIS and table data and
data
compiling the data into a CSV file format. Basically the data transfer is
transfer
automated based on Google’s specifications.
Google provides open source development tools.
• There are tools you can use to validate your feeds.
• Schedule viewer program.
• KML (Keyhole Markup Language) writer program that integrates with
Google Earth that validates bus stop location and information.
Networking is a must!
• The Google team will work with you.
• You can post questions or comments in the Google Transit Groups.
• Networking amongst other Google Transit developers (e.g. Cities of
Appleton, Fond du Lac, and Duluth, ECRPC, and BLRPC).
4. GTF File Requirements
All files in a Google Transit Feed Spec (GTFS) feed must be saved as comma-delimited
saved comma-
text.
• The first line of your feeds must contain field names. Each subsection of the Field Definitions section
subsection
corresponds to one of the files in a transit feed and lists the field names you may use in that file.
• All field names are case-sensitive.
case-
• Field values may not contain tabs, carriage returns or new lines.
lines.
• Field value in CSV file: quot;Contains quot;quot;quotesquot;quot;, commas and textquot;
Field values should not contain HTML tags, comments or escape sequences.
sequences.
Name your feed files using the following naming conventions:
• agency.txt
• stops.txt
• routes.txt
• trips.txt
• stop_times.txt
• calendar.txt
• calendar_dates.txt
• fare_rules.txt
• fare_attributes.txt
• shapes.txt
• frequencies.txt
• transfers.txt
Zip the files in your feed. Name the zip file google_transit.zip. Post the zip file in a directory named
google_transit.zip.
YYYYMMDD, where YYYYMMDD is the earliest date of valid service included in any of the files.
YYYYMMDD,
Source: Google.com, http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.html, September 2008.
Google.com, http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.html,
24. Issues
- In some cases, Google Transit may suggest walking a little
further if the overall trip time is reduced.
Google Transit’s default routing time is set to real-time.
Transfer points were not specified (this was later corrected).
Route deviations are not included.
Updating and testing route changes may take one to two
weeks.
Google Transit is not customizable.
Communications with Google Transit team are through email.
Google gets name recognition, where Brown County and Green
Bay Metro do not.
25. Advantages of Google Transit
You can search based on street address, street name,
generalized area, or business name.
Google provides web routing technology for free as opposed to
paying thousands of dollars to maintain a network server.
• Great for smaller transit systems.
• Great for Metro call takers regarding transit routing.
Google can provide web routing for commerce.
• Example: A business may want to show how to get from
Green Bay Metro to their business facility.
Another transit guide option for existing and future riders.
Green Bay will be known for its partnership with Google and for
providing a service that can be accessed through the world wide
web.
We now have extensive GIS transit data (e.g. bus stops, time
points, time frequencies, and fare information) for GIS and
planning purposes.
26. Lessons Learned
The complexity of developing and planning the Google
Transit using GIS and implementing it as part of the
Brown County’s transportation geodatabase model.
The complexity of inputting, testing, and correcting the
Google Transit feeds. You may have to wait a couple of
weeks to make corrections and retest your feeds.
There are other ways to develop the Google Transit
feeds.
• Excel download from Google Groups.
• Data table approach.
• Transit scheduling and operations software (e.g. GIRO’s
Hastus Software).
27. Future Obstacles
Incorporating a workflow process that
includes GIS and tabular editing.
Updating time points and sequences
within GIS and tabular.
Adding limited-service routes, deviations,
and detours.
28. How to Get Started
Create a Google user account.
• https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
Contact Google Transit.
• maps-transit-content@google.com
Print Google Transit specifications.
• http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.html
Download open source GTFS software.
• http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/
Get involved with Google Groups.
• http://groups.google.com/
Search for Google Transit
Brown County Planning Commission/MPO FTP
• ftp://ftp.co.brown.wi.us/ (Type this in your Windows Explore)
User Name: MPO
Password: BrownCounty
29. Google Transit Demo
October 29, 2008
Brown County Planning Commission/Green Bay MPO
Cole Runge, Principal Planner/MPO Director
Lisa Conard, Planner (Transportation)
Tim Hennig, Planner (Transportation/GIS)
305 E. Walnut Street, Room 320
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54301
Phone: (920) 448-6480
Web: www.co.brown.wi.us/planning.html