GTFS in Japan: Current Status, Community Efforts, and Development History

GTFS in Japan: Current Status, Community Efforts, and Development History The 2024 International Mobility Data Summit [Panel Date]

Masaki Ito Panelist headshot, organization logo Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan

677 GTFS Open Data available in Japan Almost all data are about route bus services. 3

2014: The First GTFS Data Was Developed in Shizuoka Ito and his colleagues created GTFS data for regional buses in three cities. No. of GTFS: 3 2017: Ministry of Transport etc. (MLIT) Released GTFS-JP Document Ito chaired the Bus Data Commission at the Ministry to discuss the implementation of GTFS to Japanese bus services. No. of GTFS: 10 What drove the exponential growth of GTFS data? 4

Public Transportation Operators in Japan (20th Century) Public Train 1 JNR: the government-owned railway company that operated rail networks across Japan until 1987. Private 100 Many private railways operate in major city suburbs. 400 Bus Multiple private bus companies in each city and region, competing with each other 5

Public Transportation Operators in Japan (21th Century) Public Train JNR was privatized to fix its financial problems 1300 Private 6 150 500 Bus Local governments took over bus operations Private bus companies reduced unprofitable routes 6

Japan Pioneered Early Transit Apps and Commercialized Public Transport Data Train Schedule Publisher 1988 Eki-spert: World first commercial route planner Sell the train data JR train schedule data 1998 Jordan Route Planner: search with train schedules 7

Possibility of GTFS Open Data Public Private 6 Train 50 Data are commercialized 1300 500 Bus No barriers to open data Hesitate to open data due to their profit-driven nature 8

Grassroots approach Empowering local officials and bus operators with tools and skills to create GTFS data nationwide. Developing Excel-based Tools for GTFS Data Holding Repeated Workshops Nationwide 9

2024年1⽉ 2023年11⽉ 2023年9⽉ 2023年7⽉ 2022 2023年5⽉ 2023年3⽉ 2023年1⽉ 2022年11⽉ 2022年9⽉ 2022年7⽉ 2021 2022年5⽉ 2022年3⽉ 2022年1⽉ 2021年11⽉ 2021年9⽉ 2021年7⽉ 2020 2021年5⽉ 2021年3⽉ 2021年1⽉ 2020年11⽉ 2020年9⽉ 2020年7⽉ 2019 2020年5⽉ 2020年3⽉ 2020年1⽉ 2019年11⽉ 2019年9⽉ 2019年7⽉ 2018 2019年5⽉ 2019年3⽉ 2019年1⽉ 2018年11⽉ 2018年9⽉ 2018年7⽉ 2018年5⽉ 2018年3⽉ 2018年1⽉ 2017年11⽉ 2017年9⽉ 2017年7⽉ オープンデータ提供事業者数 Number of GTFS Open Data in Japan 700 2023 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 10

Japanese Open GTFS Data Community: 7th Annual Conference 2024 11

The Number of App Developers is Increasing 12

GTFS Data Repository (2022-) https://gtfs-data.jp • Hosts GTFS data for public transit agencies, making data publication easier. • Automates complex tasks such as updating data while keeping the URL consistent during schedule changes. • Integrates MobilityData's validator to ensure data quality. • Provides solutions to resolve issues with error messages in Japanese. • Offers an API for easy data access and updates. 13

• https://gtfs-data.jp/

GTFS Open Data Coverage and Future Challenges Public Private 6 Train 1% 1300 150 500 Bus 40% 15% 14

GTFS-GO: Visualize GTFS with QGIS Developed by the Japanese Community https://github.com/MIERUNE/GTFS-GO • Open-source QGIS Plugin for GTFS Data • Intuitive Visualization of Transit Data • Easily visualize route information and service frequencies as a map. • Comprehensive Understanding of Urban Transit • GTFS-GO provides a complete view of a city's transit network, even when fragmented by operators and modes. • Global Compatibility • GTFS-GO can be used with transit data worldwide. 15

• https://github.com/MIERUNE/GTFS-GO

GTFS Visualization by QGIS + GTFS-GO https://t.ly/aBOIS 16

• https://t.ly/aBOIS

Frequency of Bus/Train Operation 17

Société de transport de Montréal (STM) Thank you! 18