The discussion about GTFS and Google Transit is often binary between 'it's a danger' and 'it's an opportunity'. Open data does not mean that the data is not sourced. On the contrary, the source is a guarantee of the quality of the data. One of the criteria of this quality is the updating of information. And in transport information, up-to-date data is a determining factor in the quality of customer service.

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Transport companies are therefore in a key position. They become producers of qualified and sourced data in their name, with the possibility of instant publication. By choosing this mode, an intrinsic value is given to the source: the transport company becomes a "brand" of the data. This also shows a dynamic of transparency (the availability of data) and know-how (the fluidity and quality of data production). Google Transit appears as a facilitator of publication to a maximum of customers (using Google Maps in particular).

 

The impact is significant for the Transport authorities, which benefit from a strong promotion of their networks and their offers (at a controlled cost). Promoting the transport mix and new mobility behaviours requires confidence in reliable, real-time, and easily accessible data. Technology has made transport intelligence evolve. The availability of qualified information has made it possible to propose intelligent travel systems.

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The use of data by transport companies is one way to increase their reputation and position their expertise. This is similar to public relations for the data producer. This is an interesting dynamic at a time when networks are competing with each other and the transport company's image (with its service/price positioning) carries great weight.

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Do transport companies have a card to play when data is made available in open data by Transport authorities? For customers, the value is in the quality of the information (i.e., mainly travel time and mobility solutions). With open data, there is a risk of possible discrepancies due to the reporting time. This risk is a place for transport companies to take and become full-fledged players in technology strategies. Moreover, the GTFS format gives the possibility to propose comments (such as qualified information on deviations), which is the transport company's domain. We thus move from timetable data (simple data) to timetable metadata (enriched data).

 

The GTFS format seems to us to be one of the ways to enhance and capitalize on transport information. Google offers a quality of use through its solutions, with a direct appropriation by customers to visualize mobility solutions. Behaviours have changed in terms of consuming traveller information, and it's gone. Should we take the initiative in promoting data or suffer the presentation of open data? The alternatives seem more to counter a Google hegemony. GTFS is a format to simplify access to information, a new standard that could be missing, at a multi-network level. Relying on the GTFS format seems to us to be an opportunity, which goes in the right direction, at the service of the customer.