Schedule & GTFS QA/QC

Foursquare ITP’s QA/QC tools provide a set of schedule and GTFS checks that can’t be found anywhere else. When public transit customers use a navigation app like Google Maps, they rely on an accurate and up-to-date general transit feed specification (GTFS) feed. Foursquare ITP’s Schedule & GTFS QA/QC helps agencies ensure that their customers are getting the right directions by providing staff with tools to check the quality and accuracy of GTFS feeds. The web app interface allows agency staff to upload a GTFS feed and compare it to a previous GTFS feed to detect any inadvertent changes to service levels or stop locations–a feature you won’t find anywhere else. For instance, following a service change, an agency may have inadvertently dropped a stop from a pattern in its GTFS feed, causing navigation apps to provide riders with more inconvenient directions. By comparing a feed about to be published to the agency’s previous GTFS feed, such errors can be detected and prevented. The tool also provides downloadable reports on feed changes, numerous validation checks, and supplemental visualizations to assist agencies with checking for errors.

Example Application: Foursquare ITP integrated its Schedule & GTFS QAQC tools into MTA Maryland’s suite of Performance Monitoring dashboards. As staff needs evolved, additional features were added to the app to more readily highlight inadvertently dropped trips and stops.