OpenStreetMap
I am in the process of trying to update and add bus stops and bus routes in San Diego County. The majority of current bus-stops are based on old data and are many are just a single located at an intersection. MTS and SANDAG have new SHP layers and update this information quarterly. I am approaching this in pieces so as to not break any functionality of the existing bus routes in OSM. However, from what I have seen, the vast majority of bus stops need to be changed and many routes are not added yet.
TRANSIT_STOPS_GTFS Publication Date: 2017-06-28 Summary: Public transit stops and stations covering the County of San Diego. Bus, commuter and light rail, and trolley stops managed by the San Diego County Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the North County Transit District (NCTD). Data is developed from the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data available from the transitland feed registry (formerly from the GTFS Data Exchange). Layer is updated quarterly and may not reflect most current route information.
TRANSIT_ROUTES_GTFS Publication Date: 2017-06-28 Summary: Public transit routes covering the County of San Diego. Bus, commuter and light rail, and trolley routes managed by the San Diego County Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the North County Transit District (NCTD). Data is developed from the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data available from the transit land feed registry (formerly from the GTFS Data Exchange). Layer is updated quarterly and may not reflect most current route information.
Discussion
Comment from Nakaner on 21 September 2017 at 19:49
Hi mds08011,
thank you for your interest in public transport. But please keep in mind that if you copy bus stops from a third party data source, it is considered as an import. Imports have to be discussed and documented. This might sound like a burden but it ensures that we have the legal permissin to use the data and that your proposed process is well thought out.
As long as you do not copy data directly but just use the GTFS files to plan your mapping and either survey the stops in field or using Mapillary, it is no import.
Best regards
Michael
Comment from mds08011 on 21 September 2017 at 22:10
Thank you Michael – I was not aware of this process. I will look into the import policy to decide how I want to proceed. I will already need to check and confirm the existing stops, so it may be easier to just use the GFTS as a basis for surveying, rather than copying/importing the data.
Comment from Polyglot on 22 September 2017 at 07:49
Hi,
I hope I won’t discourage you. I just downloaded San Diego in JOSM using the Overpass Query you find here (This will result in a dataset that only has PT related objects):
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/JOSM/Plugins/PT_Assistant/Mapping_Public_Transport_with_JOSM
Mapping public transport for an area like that is going to take a while. It’s probably best to do it line by line. First map all the stops, then connect them using route relations.
I see you use JOSM, that’s great! We created a plugin called PT_Assistant, which might be an enormous help.
If you like we can do a Hangout or Skype conversation and I can show you how it works.
I also created some screencast videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIOXVFq_dQdrkPxcF–dfcA/videos?view_as=subscriber
Comment from Polyglot on 22 September 2017 at 12:42
Do you think you might be able to mobilize some people to go out and make Mapillary/OpenStreetCam pictures of the stops?
What is interesting to know is whether there is a bench/waste bin/shelter and whether there is a platform area where people wait. If the kerb is higher to make it easier for wheelchair users to alight the bus/tram, that is also interesting information. Also if there are tactile_paving tiles or a button giving audible information for blind people (not exactly sure how they are supposed to find those buttons, but OK). Anyway, those are just some attention points if you’re out there to make pictures anyway.
The most important is, of course, to make sure you get the name of the stop, to compare with what’s in those GTFS files (no abbreviations). If those ref numbers are on them so the public can see them, then it’s really good to take note of them, as it will make it easier to know which stop belongs to which route (automatically) later on.
What I also like to do, is take note of the line numbers and store those in route_ref, separated by semicolons. When surveying, it’s usually easy to add them. And when creating the route relations it’s convenient to have them.
Comment from mds08011 on 22 September 2017 at 23:56
Thank you for the advice! I will check out PT_Assistant it looks like it would be a big help. So far I had just been trying to work with filters on which was not ideal.
At this point I will probably just start with the City of San Diego Bus Stops instead of the entire County. I should be able to survey a decent amount of the stops in the vicinity of downtown and will note the amenities like benches and shelters. The signs do list which routes are associated with the stops, so I will note those: I like your route_ref idea.
Later, I plan to use the GTFS routes as a guide to add routes, but I have not had experience using relations so that will likely be pretty slow.