The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation supports the creation and maintenance of GTFS for many transit agencies in Virginia. Several other transit agencies maintain GTFS outside of this effort. This website contains download links for GTFS feeds in Virginia.
GTFS is an acronym for the General Transit Feed Specification. GTFS defines a common standard for public transportation schedules and associated geographic, fare, and service calendar information. Learn more about GTFS with DRPT’s guide or by reading the documentation in the “What is GTFS?” section below.
What is GTFS?
GTFS is an acronym for the General Transit Feed Specification. GTFS defines a common standard for public transportation schedules and associated geographic, fare, and service calendar information. Learn more by reading the documentation for GTFS.
GTFS data is used in many applications that present public transportation information, such as trip planners and maps. The data is also analyzed by transportation planners and researchers.
GTFS-Flex is an extension to the GTFS data spec that enables demand-responsive transit services (e.g. Paratransit, Dial-a-Ride, Microtransit, etc.) to be represented and discoverable in trip planning applications. Virginia DRPT has sponsored a pilot project to build GTFS-flex feeds for a select number of agencies in the state, as well as a trip planner that supports GTFS-Flex data (anticipated release: Late Summer/Early Fall 2023).
More information:
- The gtfs.org best practices page provides recommended practices for describing public transportation services in the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS).
- MobilityData is the organization that facilitates ongoing development of GTFS. The MobilityData Slack channel is a space for spec and industry discussion.
- The GTFS-changes email list is a discussion forum regarding the GTFS and proposed modifications.
- The GTFS Github site is a repository to discuss the spec, suggest changes, or raise issues.
- The Mobility Database and Transit.land provide download links for GTFS data for public transportation agencies worldwide.
- DRPT’s GTFS Agency Guide
Mapping with GTFS
GTFS data includes files that contain geographic information that can be imported into and used in a variety of geospatial analysis platforms. There are several tools and websites available that allow one to convert these text files into more common geometry formats.
- Command line tools
- TransitFeed Library contains several tools for working with GTFS files. One of which, KMLWriter, is great for quickly generating a KML file from a feed.
- Web tools
- Transit.land includes both a map to see, select, and export routes and stops from GTFS files aggregated from around the world. Their API allows for querying and downloading of results.
- Geospatial analysis platforms
- Plugins
- Esri has a wide variety of tools and plugins that use GTFS data, including visualizing schedule data.
- In QGIS, GTFS-GO and GTFS Loader allow you to visualize routes and stops within the platform.
- Tutorials
See the tutorials below for instructions on how to set up GTFS data in Microsoft Excel and visualize stop- and route-level daily frequencies in GIS programs without downloading any additional plugins or tools.
- Plugins
GTFS static feeds
GTFS Flex feeds
Terms and guidelines for use of GTFS data
Depending on the agency, the data linked on this website may be available through a license agreement or without a license agreement. Check individual agency websites or the feed download site for further information. Neither the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, nor its contractor (Trillium Solutions, Inc.), nor any transit agencies listed here guarantee the accuracy of any data linked from this website. Any and all data is provided as-is.
- GTFS data is provided without warranties.
- No availability guarantees are expressed or implied.
- The agencies retain full rights to the data.
- The agencies reserve the right to use their respective logos. 3rd party applications may NOT display agency logos without prior authorization. Unless otherwise specified, logos are an indicator only for official, agency-supplied materials.
- 3rd party applications should be presented as such. Unless other arrangements supersede, 3rd party applications should not be presented as being endorsed by, or affiliated with Virginia DRPT or individual transit agencies.
Reporting errors and issues
If you have difficulty accessing GTFS data, have a question, or notice an error in a GTFS dataset, submit a support request (please note the location of the feed that your request concerns).
