Support Open Data Standards For Transit
Making transit a viable tool for getting people out of their cars and thus lowering our collective carbon footprint requires making transit use attractive. Internet apps that provide bus and train schedules are incredibly valuable in this regard.
Surprisingly, most transit agencies are hesitant to make their schedule data available to application developers using a standard format and license.
The problem has prompted Front Seat, the developers of WalkScore, to create a new website, City-Go-Round.
City-Go-Round serves a dual purpose. First, it's a central location where you can search for mobile apps that turn your Internet-enabled phone into transit map and schedule book. More important, City-Go-Round hopes to rally support for making more transit data open source.
As of today, City-Go-Round reports that 666 transit agencies do not provide open data to app developers. On a hopeful note, three agencies made their data available in the last four days, bringing the current total to 92 agencies that make their schedule data available to application developers using a standard format and license.
You can help out by making your voice heard:
