Introduction

This page documents the revisions that the Google Transit Feed Specification has had over its history.

September 26, 2011

• Added 'feed_info' proposal to spec: discussion

September 6, 2011

• Added 'agency_fare_url' proposal to spec: discussion
• Added 'exact_times' proposal to spec: discussion

March 30, 2009

• See http://groups.google.com/group/gtfs-changes/t/70bd44e2828aa4ac

February 26, 2009

• Removed most of the Google-specific feed submission instructions, since there are many other applications that consume GTFS data at this point.
• Fixed a broken link in the sidebar to Orange County OCTA's public feed.

August 7, 2008

• Restored the stop_url field, which was accidentally omitted in the August 6 version
• Added agency_phone to sample data
• Added a mention of the data use agreement when submitting a feed to Google

August 6, 2008

• Added transfers.txt file, allowing the feed publishers to provide hints on preferred transfer behavior (original proposal)
• Added location_type and parent_station fields to stops.txt, allowing stop points to be grouped into stations (original proposal)
• Added agency_phone field for providing voice telephone number for an agency (original proposal)
• Added "Testing Your Feeds" section mentioning open-source testing tools
• Added clarifications about CSV format, agency_timezone, agency_lang, route_color, route_text_color, arrival_time, departure_time, calendar.txt vs. calendar_dates.txt, fare tables, and frequencies.txt
• Added link to feed history document, and corrected some public feed links
• Updated example images to depict the current Google Maps UI
• Updated/fixed sample data in document

February 29, 2008

• Added the stop_code field in stops.txt to allow for the specification of rider-facing stop codes (original proposal)
• Clarified the descriptions of route_short_name and route_long_name in routes.txt
• Clarified the descriptions of arrival_time and departure_time in stop_times.txt
• Fixed typos in the Sample Data section

November 20, 2007

• Clarified block_id description
• Changed language to de-emphasize Google Transit (since non-Google applications are using GTFS, and transit routing is now an integrated feature of Google Maps), and to fix assorted typos
• Updated example screenshots to reflect the presentation of GTFS fields in the current Google Maps UI
• Updated the Google contact email address for transit data providers
• Updated formatting

October 5, 2007

• Changed stop_sequence and shape_pt_sequence to allow for any increasing non-negative integers
• Clarified descriptions and fixed typos

May 31, 2007

• Updated page style, made HTML cleaner and more accessible
• Added links to public feed examples and other useful sites
• Removed examples from individual field descriptions

April 9, 2007

• Added section on submitting a feed.
• Added the Demo Transit Agency Example feed and live demo.
• Added note that calendar.txt can be omitted if all the service dates are defined in calendar_dates.txt.
• Made the agency_id field optional in feeds containing only one agency. This allows existing feeds without agency_id to remain valid.
• Added fuller specification of agency_url, stop_url, and route_url, and additional example values for those fields.
• Added 6 (Gondola) and 7 (Funicular) as valid route_type values.

March 8, 2007

Minor edit to move the stop_url field from stop_times.txt, where it was incorrectly specified in the Feb. 28 update, to stops.txt, where it belongs.

March 5, 2007

Minor edit to clarify the description of the route_long_name field.

February 28, 2007

Headway has a comprehensive writeup of the February 2007 changes.

November 29, 2006

• Added support for trip shape information via shapes.txt
• Clarified the definition of stop_sequence
• Marked pickup_type and drop_off_type optional

October 31, 2006

• Added support for fare information
• Removed dates from individual file names
• Changed the route_type value definitions
• Allowed for multiple feed files to be posted at the same time, as long as their service periods didn't overlap
• Fixed block_id in trips.txt so that it was correctly marked Optional
• Noted that column headers must be included

September 29, 2006

Minor edit to fix a couple errors in the examples.

September 25, 2006

Initial version.

Original Files

The raw HTML files for each version of the specification are available below for historical reference.