I did a lot of transit-related software development [1] in 2010, so I've experienced this first-hand.
For those who don't know, Google maintains a specification called GTFS that captures transit agency timetable and route information.
Unfortunately, as parent mentioned, a lot of transit agencies illogically believe that they need to protect their data. Most agencies are at least partially publicly funded, so there is no reason keep data behind closed doors. Of the 800 or so transit agencies in the US, only about 150 provide their data publicly today. (Many more provide their data to Google, but not to the general public -- a strange state of affairs.)
The community has organically developed a three-pronged assault:
1. Use carrots to encourage agencies to provide their data.
Google Maps is a good carrot, as it gets agencies to use the common GTFS format. Unfortunately, Google is willing to take data from agencies that won't make their data otherwise publicly available, so it doesn't fix the entire problem.
Walk Score's Transit API [1] is another carrot. If agencies make their data public, it will immediately be available through this API. The Transit API makes it very easy for third-party developers to do great things with transit data, and it takes care of all the difficult issues: finding the data, keeping it current, and dealing with real-world bugs in the data. (Transit data headaches were my life for many months last year!)
2. Use sticks to encourage agencies to provide their data.
I helped build City Go Round [2] to shed light on the innovation that happens when agencies open their data. You can also see quite clearly what agencies in a given locale haven't yet ponied up their data. (Search in San Francisco, for example.)
3. Create a public clearinghouse so there is high visibility.
The GTFS Data Exchange, or GTFSDE [3], is where public GTFS data goes to live. It's a great resource for transit developers and, along with the GTFSDE mailing list, is the focal point for the community at the moment.
Neat. I saw the list you have on the front page of http://www.citygoround.org and immediately thought "Cool, a list of cities I never want to live in!"
But then I saw Phoenix on the list, which is where I am currently living, and I'm confused. Google Transit works great in Phoenix, but you've got Valley Metro listed as not providing their data. What's going on there?
They can submit their schedule data to Google but not let anyone else see it. AC Transit is another agency that is in Google Transit but does not give the general public access to their GTFS schedule data.
Yes, that's it exactly. It's a frustrating middle ground where data available to Google is not available to the general public, even though many of these are public agencies to begin with.
For those who don't know, Google maintains a specification called GTFS that captures transit agency timetable and route information.
Unfortunately, as parent mentioned, a lot of transit agencies illogically believe that they need to protect their data. Most agencies are at least partially publicly funded, so there is no reason keep data behind closed doors. Of the 800 or so transit agencies in the US, only about 150 provide their data publicly today. (Many more provide their data to Google, but not to the general public -- a strange state of affairs.)
The community has organically developed a three-pronged assault:
1. Use carrots to encourage agencies to provide their data.
Google Maps is a good carrot, as it gets agencies to use the common GTFS format. Unfortunately, Google is willing to take data from agencies that won't make their data otherwise publicly available, so it doesn't fix the entire problem.
Walk Score's Transit API [1] is another carrot. If agencies make their data public, it will immediately be available through this API. The Transit API makes it very easy for third-party developers to do great things with transit data, and it takes care of all the difficult issues: finding the data, keeping it current, and dealing with real-world bugs in the data. (Transit data headaches were my life for many months last year!)
2. Use sticks to encourage agencies to provide their data.
I helped build City Go Round [2] to shed light on the innovation that happens when agencies open their data. You can also see quite clearly what agencies in a given locale haven't yet ponied up their data. (Search in San Francisco, for example.)
3. Create a public clearinghouse so there is high visibility.
The GTFS Data Exchange, or GTFSDE [3], is where public GTFS data goes to live. It's a great resource for transit developers and, along with the GTFSDE mailing list, is the focal point for the community at the moment.
-Dave
[1] http://www.walkscore.com/services/public-transit-api.php
[2] http://www.citygoround.org/apps/nearby/?q=san%20francisco,%2...
[3] http://www.gtfs-data-exchange.com/