Today, Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning, Inc. (Foursquare ITP) is launching ReflectTM, a platform that helps public transit agencies produce high-quality transit schedules and deliver the right directions to customers on Google Maps and other websites and apps. Reflect catches inefficiencies in service and validates GTFS schedule data for common errors that could leave customers asking, “Where’s my bus?!”
When public transit customers use a navigation app like Google Maps, they rely on an agency’s General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data. When this information is not accurate and up-to-date, riders can reach their destination late, miss their bus, or never know that transit services exist at all. Starting today, agencies can use Reflect’s GTFS Validator for free to improve their GTFS feed quality at reflect.foursquareitp.com. A walkthrough of the platform’s features is shown below:
“We’ve helped agencies around the country redesign their transit networks to better serve their customers,” says Lora Byala, Founder and CEO of Foursquare ITP. “Getting the right information into customer’s hands is a big part of ensuring that the hard work that transit agencies put into improving their services pays off.”
For the past two years, features included in the Reflect platform have helped the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore, Maryland—one of the US’s largest transit operators—reduce excess layover, catch unexpected gaps between trips, and ensure that customers always have accurate information about agency services.
Reflect offers many advances for transit agencies as they develop and publish transit schedules. The most common GTFS validation software used by agencies has not been significantly updated in more than a decade; the Reflect GTFS Validator identifies more types of errors with greater detail and greater speed. Agencies can use Reflect’s GTFS Validator for free; the full platform also offers additional dashboards and reports to catch more schedule problems before they affect customers.
Foursquare ITP hosted webinar for agencies looking to learn about how to use the platform. We covered the top issues found in our review of hundreds of feeds across the United States and how the free Reflect GTFS validator can help you find top data quality issues in your feed. Watch the webinar recording below: