Transit Website Generation

maxtkc commented

2026-02-27 00:17:47 +00:00

Owner

We need to fix transit websites. No more https://westbusservice.com/ or http://www.columbiacountyny.com/columbia-county-public-transit.html

Lets be real, though, no big operator needs this. So for the small operators, what do they need?

Easy to integrate
Simple, maybe 1 page
Customizable for agency specific blurbs
Easy to update

Some Questions

Do we generate small pieces that they can use, or an entire website?
Should it have different themes/templates to work from?
Do they host it, or do we host it forever? Can we make both possible?
Can this be fully static or do we need a CMS?

Lets pretend I'm an operator. I have an existing website. It sucks. I want to build a new one. Maybe I can control some DNS records, maybe I can write a 302 page. I think I would prefer someone else reliable be hosting it, but I must be able to edit it.

Idea

They go to gen.web.gtfs.zone
They see some example websites, some different templates
They choose a template. Lets say we make some templates for a static site generator, like Zola: https://www.getzola.org/
This generates a fork of the template repo
They then are instructed to replace the sample GTFS feed with their own
After committing, an action runs that takes the GTFS feed and unzips it or something so it's not too hard for the website to parse
This generates a static site
When they update the GTFS, they have to run the unpacker

More Questions

Is it possible to not unpack it at all? Can we run a website where the client unzips the gtfs feed and displays the info on the fly? Lets test this first, maybe, because if it's fast enough, that would be sooo cool. Update: unzip with fflate of MBTA gtfs is .5s... I say this is good enough

Sooo...

We could just host one of each theme and you could point it at your GTFS feed and it would display it. I'll think more about this later.

We need to fix transit websites. No more https://westbusservice.com/ or http://www.columbiacountyny.com/columbia-county-public-transit.html Lets be real, though, no big operator needs this. So for the small operators, what do they need? - Easy to integrate - Simple, maybe 1 page - Customizable for agency specific blurbs - Easy to update ### Some Questions - Do we generate small pieces that they can use, or an entire website? - Should it have different themes/templates to work from? - Do they host it, or do we host it forever? Can we make both possible? - Can this be fully static or do we need a CMS? Lets pretend I'm an operator. I have an existing website. It sucks. I want to build a new one. Maybe I can control some DNS records, maybe I can write a 302 page. I think I would prefer someone else reliable be hosting it, but I must be able to edit it. ### Idea - They go to gen.web.gtfs.zone - They see some example websites, some different templates - They choose a template. Lets say we make some templates for a static site generator, like Zola: https://www.getzola.org/ - This generates a fork of the template repo - They then are instructed to replace the sample GTFS feed with their own - After committing, an action runs that takes the GTFS feed and unzips it or something so it's not too hard for the website to parse - This generates a static site - When they update the GTFS, they have to run the unpacker ### More Questions - Is it possible to not unpack it at all? Can we run a website where the client unzips the gtfs feed and displays the info on the fly? Lets test this first, maybe, because if it's fast enough, that would be sooo cool. Update: unzip with fflate of MBTA gtfs is .5s... I say this is good enough Sooo... We could just host one of each theme and you could point it at your GTFS feed and it would display it. I'll think more about this later.

maxtkc self-assigned this

2026-02-27 01:05:29 +00:00

maxtkc added this to the Transportation Brainstorm project

2026-02-27 11:31:36 +00:00

rhorridge commented

2026-03-07 10:22:09 +00:00

There's lots of other examples of public transit websites in the UK. I know more about rail sites (which do not generally use GTFS).

The best example I've worked with is Bus Times: https://bustimes.org/ This is one I use regularly and it takes GTFS RT feeds from the bus Open Data service: https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/ There are many others though!

For rail we don't currently have the same requirements on TOCs to provide GTFS RT data. It's something I could probably implement in our systems. The market leaders in this space are:

Open Train Times: https://www.opentraintimes.com/
Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/

Agreed on what you say about having good templates, however. I'm not aware of a public repository that hosts such templates which could 'easily' be incorporated by small-medium transit providers. This seems like something which is worth exploring!

There's lots of other examples of public transit websites in the UK. I know more about rail sites (which do not generally use GTFS). The best example I've worked with is Bus Times: https://bustimes.org/ This is one I use regularly and it takes GTFS RT feeds from the bus Open Data service: https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/ There are many others though! For rail we don't currently have the same requirements on TOCs to provide GTFS RT data. It's something I could probably implement in our systems. The market leaders in this space are: - Open Train Times: https://www.opentraintimes.com/ - Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ Agreed on what you say about having good templates, however. I'm not aware of a public repository that hosts such templates which could 'easily' be incorporated by small-medium transit providers. This seems like something which is worth exploring!

maxtkc commented

2026-03-07 13:30:49 +00:00

Author

Owner

@rhorridge These aggregators are cool and provide a nice one stop shop for a variety of networks. However, agencies will likely always continue to maintain their own independent websites. It would be nice to have a minimum quality for them.

This is something I've tested out previously that generates timetables usable for agencies: https://gtfstohtml.com/ Expanding that so that it can output a Zola or Jekyll formatted static site (which could then be further themed) would be cool.

@rhorridge These aggregators are cool and provide a nice one stop shop for a variety of networks. However, agencies will likely always continue to maintain their own independent websites. It would be nice to have a minimum quality for them. This is something I've tested out previously that generates timetables usable for agencies: https://gtfstohtml.com/ Expanding that so that it can output a Zola or Jekyll formatted static site (which could then be further themed) would be cool.

rhorridge commented

2026-03-08 19:04:03 +00:00

Yes, having a straightforward template is very useful! There's a big need for a standard reference implementation for displaying this information.

Agree that agencies will always need to maintain their own. This has its share of issues e.g. in the UK every train operator maintains their own website for buying tickets, and there isn't a lot of standardisation between them. For buses the fare structure is usually much simpler so there is less inherent complexity that has to be built-in, making a standardised tool more useful.

Yes, having a straightforward template is very useful! There's a big need for a standard reference implementation for displaying this information. Agree that agencies will always need to maintain their own. This has its share of issues e.g. in the UK every train operator maintains their own website for buying tickets, and there isn't a lot of standardisation between them. For buses the fare structure is usually much simpler so there is less inherent complexity that has to be built-in, making a standardised tool more useful.

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