Multimodal data repositories, the secret ingredient of trip planners

We know that managing multimodal mobility data upstream of journey planners significantly improves the quality of the responses provided to travellers. This is at the heart of the value proposition of Chouette SaaS and Ara SaaS, two solutions dedicated to multimodal mobility data management.

Chouette SaaS feeds all journey planners with scheduled data

Chouette SaaS enables the publication of scheduled data describing publi transport services via:

• API,
• Open data,
• Email,
• A cloud storage solution,
• SFTP.

Regardless of the publication channel, the datasets can be published in either NeTEx or GTFS Schedule, depending on the needs of your downstream data consumers. Specifically, in the case of journey planners, you can feed them data from the same data repository according to their requirements.

With Chouette SaaS, you can simply set:

• Whicih information of the transport service to be shared, depending on what the journey planner requires,
• Which standardised data exchange format, depending on the journey planner’s capabilities,
• The time period covered by the dataset, for example the upcoming 30 days.

If you work with journey planners that prefer direct data collection, you simply need to grant privileged access via a non-public API. Then, simply share with them is the API access URL and the authentication details. If you are working with mainstream solutions based on open data, simply generate access via a public API. You can then share the URL widely, particularly via open data portals such as National Access Points.

For further information on the publication options available through Chouette SaaS, please visit our user manual.

Ara SaaS broadcasts real-time data to all journey planners

Ara SaaS enables the broadcast of real-time transport service information via:

• APIs,
• Open data (at no extra cost for direct access).

Regardless of the chosen channel, data can be broadcasted in either SIRI or GTFS Realtime, depending on the needs of your your downstream data consumers. Specifically, in the case of journey planners, you can feed them using the same real-time information, available in whichever data format they prefer.

In Ara SaaS, each broadcast channel can be configured individually according to:

• Which real-time service to be distributed,
• The type of identifier to be used for consolidation with schedule data,
• The data format for real-time broadcast,
• In the case of SIRI distribution, the method used by the journey planner to retrieve real-time data.

If you are working with journey planners that prioritise direct data collection, you simply need to confirm privileged access via a non-public API. Then, simply share with them is the API access URL and the authentication details.
If you are working with mainstream solutions based on open data, you simply need to set up access via a public API. You can then share the URL widely, particularly via open data portals such as National Access Points.

For further information on the publishing options available through Ara SaaS, please visit our user manual.

Chouette SaaS and Ara SaaS serving a public transport authority to feed journey planners

Let’s consider the specific, and fairly typical, case of a public transport authority wishing to feed data into both a mainstream journey planner application and its local journey planner.

To feed the mainstream journey planner (e.g., Google Maps), the public transport authority’s teams will set:

• Using Chouette SaaS, the publication of their schedule data in GTFS Schedule,
• Using Ara SaaS, the broadcast of their real-time data in GTFS Realtime.

The publication APIs can be private or public for both solutions.

The combination of both solutions makes it easier to ensure consistency between scheduled and real-time data. To achieve this, Ara SaaS is fed directly by Chouette SaaS, enabling the production of a comprehensive and easily usable GTFS Realtime feed.

At the same time, and at no extra cost, the public transport authority’s teams configure feeds to power their own journey planner. For schedule data, two private API feeds are set in Chouette SaaS:

• One in GTFS Schedule format, covering the essential data to describe the service.
• A second one in NeTEx, which complements the service description with richer information on fare data, accessibility, and the codes associated with the various objects in the database…

For real-time data, a SIRI feed is set in Ara SaaS, including all available SIRI services, namely:

• Vehicle Monitoring,
• Stop Monitoring,
• Estimated Timetable,
• Facility Monitoring.

This enables the white-label journey planner to benefit from real-time information that sets it apart from mainstream solutions, such as lift availability or the next arrivals at a given stop.

This example illustrates how Chouette SaaS and Ara SaaS enable data to be prepared upstream (import, validation, harmonisation, enrichment, aggregation, etc.) and thus meet the needs of various journey planners.