Roadmap outcomes

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MobilityData is sharing a roadmap for the Mobility Database, a central hub for mobility datasets across the world. This roadmap is informed by user interviews conducted in December 2021 and January 2022, the product research Mobility Data shared in spring 2021 and the support requests received through OpenMobilityData. These outcomes and priorities have been revised to reflect our most recent conversations with the community.

The roadmap’s features are organized around 3 main outcomes for the Mobility Database, which are shared in detail below.

This roadmap will be regularly developed through annual feedback and inputs from the international mobility community, with public quarterly prioritization meetings to assess goals. You can learn more about how to contribute to this work throughout 2022 below.

Our Outcomes

Mobility Database provides reliable and up to date GTFS Schedule and GTFS Realtime data.

All stakeholders need access to up-to-date datasets and a stable URL for the datasets so the information they’re using is reliable and accurate. This is the first critical outcome that must be achieved.

It’s easy for data producers and consumers to collaborate to improve data on Mobility Database.

In order for Mobility Database to be the central hub for all GTFS datasets across the world, data producers and consumers need to be able to easily add and improve data together. Governance will be worked on in stages. Currently, stakeholders can request source updates, and later we’ll implement a process for data producers to easily verify that their source has been updated.

Shared identifiers allow data producers and consumers to reduce duplication and increase discoverability.

A lack of consistency in stop, trip, route, agency and source IDs makes it difficult to link static and realtime sources together and reduce duplication in what trip planning data travellers see. It also makes representing complex relationships, like interagency fare transfers, incredibly labor intensive. There is a need for shared identifiers across providers’ datasets to maintain consistency and reduce duplication of effort across the industry. This is a critical gap Mobility Database can fill as the canonical database for open mobility data.

How to contribute to this work

• Share your feedback and ideas in the roadmap.
• You can contribute directly to the Mobility Database’s development in the public sprints that occur every two week cycle. Take a look at our to-dos tagged as V1 and comment if you’re interested in taking an issue on.
• If you are a current TransitFeeds user who is impacted by this transition, please contact Emma Blue, the Product Manager for Thriving Ecosystem at emma@mobilitydata.org.
• This work relies on the sponsorship of the mobility community. If you'd like to support the development and growth of our work, you can learn more about becoming a MobilityData member here.