A collection of public transport network data sets for 25 cities

Area of Science:

• Transportation Science
• Urban Planning
• Data Science

Background:

• Public transport (PT) agencies widely use the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) for sharing route and timetable data.
• GTFS data is valuable for passenger routing, network analysis, accessibility studies, and service level assessments.
• Raw GTFS data presents challenges for researchers due to its complexity and potential for errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To lower the barrier for researchers using public transport data.
• To provide a standardized, easy-to-use collection of PT networks.
• To facilitate global PT network research and the development of analytical tools.

Main Methods:

• Curated a collection of 25 cities' public transport networks.
• Provided data in multiple accessible formats: network edge lists, temporal network event lists, SQLite databases, GeoJSON, and GTFS.
• Ensured data quality and completeness for research applications.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive, multi-format dataset of 25 global public transport networks is now available.
• The curated collection simplifies the process of accessing and utilizing GTFS data for research.
• The dataset serves as a valuable resource for comparative studies of PT organization worldwide.

Conclusions:

• The published collection significantly reduces the obstacles to researching public transport systems.
• This resource will foster advancements in public transport network analysis and the creation of improved routing algorithms.
• The availability of standardized data promotes a deeper understanding of global transit structures and service provision.