The TBEST GTFS (General Transit File Specification) Interoperability tools take advantage of the investment agencies and vendors have made in developing Google Transit Trip Planner compatible files. These tools are a critical part of the use of TBEST for service planning since they integrate current or historic operational network information directly into TBEST, saving the organization valuable time in maintaining an accurate modeling and analysis platform.
The TBEST GTFS Interoperability contains the following features:
- TBEST GTFS Network Import – The GTFS file specification includes data that can be utilized by TBEST to import the route network, service characteristics and other TBEST model variables into a fully coded TBEST network.
The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool can be used to import individually selected route(s) or the entire network while maintaining the integrity of the model validation. Planners can maintain the base year model network structure by intermittently updating the network with modified routes per bid update or re-validate the model based on the new bid update. The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool provides the following features:
- Import observed, stop-level ridership via a GTFS accessory file (stop_ridership.txt) for performance analysis within TBEST
- Segment the imported GTFS network within TBEST from native GTFS formatting or enhanced segmentation via GTFS accessory file structure (timepoints.txt)
- Converts GTFS into a GIS-compatible format
- TBEST GTFS Network Export – Networks coded within TBEST can also be exported into GTFS format. Exported TBEST GTFS networks contain user-defined vehicle arrival times and travel speeds and can be used for other planning or visualization applications such as the FTA STOPS model. TBEST GTFS exports include appended attributes with ridership estimates and stop amenities.