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Chapter 4 - Models for Sharing Public Transit Data
Pages 36-44

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From page 36...
... Transit agencies receive large volumes of public records and other data requests, and publishing the data online allows transit agency staff to quickly point requesters to the online portal rather than have to fulfill requests individually. Data users may also download data directly from transit agency websites without interacting with the transit agency at all.
From page 37...
... Online Sharing Formats: Reports, Repositories, Dashboards, and Application Programming Interfaces Transit agencies share data publicly in a variety of forms. All the transit agency interviewees indicated their agencies have data and reports that can be downloaded from their websites.
From page 38...
... Some of the transit agencies require the users of this data to register to access an API key. At least two of the transit agency interviewees noted that this model enables their agency to cut off users who overburden the system with too many data requests.
From page 39...
... Such platforms typically require a standardized data format and may therefore require additional effort from transit agencies. Conversely, such models can allow transit agencies to share costs of processing, storing, and documenting data as well as addressing any legal implications of data sharing, potentially reducing transit agency effort.
From page 40...
... Other Data Sharing Relationships At least two of the transit agency interviewees indicated that their agencies shared data with local municipalities. In addition, several of the transit agencies provide data to real estate devel opers when requested.
From page 41...
... At least two transit agency interviewees noted their agencies do not attach any provisions when they fulfill nonsensitive data requests, which may include aggregate statistics on ridership or boardings and transit system-level information. 4.3 Examples of Data Sharing Models for Customer Information Route, schedule, and vehicle location data are among the most commonly shared types of transit data.
From page 42...
... Informed by customer research, at least one transit agency interviewee expressed concerns that this presentation of informa tion may encourage users to choose TNCs over public transit. On the other hand, some transit agencies see TNCs as a potential complement and have worked to have transit information displayed within the Uber app.
From page 43...
... Rather than specifying these components explicitly, they select the best of the available options. Commission App Development Although most transportation apps are developed by private app developers without input or funding from transit agencies, transit agencies may opt to pay for some or all components of app development, giving them control over app specifications.
From page 44...
... However, even some of the transit agency interviewees from larger agencies indicated their agencies opted out of developing their own app, because of the specialized and fast-changing nature of app development. Transit agencies that either commission an app or develop it in house make decisions about the inclusion of other modes.


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