Government
Post covers upcoming Google Transit data release
The campaign for openness in transit schedule data, and Metro's agreement to publish it online, made the front page of today's Washington Post Metro section.
Metro plans to post all its bus and rail schedules and routes on the transit agency's Web site starting Monday, a long-awaited move that will allow third parties such as Google Transit to use the data to offer online tools to help riders navigate the system. ...Reporter Lena Sun goes on to write that the license terms will require the users of the data to "exempt the transit agency from liability" for anything that might go wrong from using the data. According to Google, they'll have to look at the license terms before deciding for sure whether to launch the data on Google Transit."If I want to go from the Jackson Graham Building to Dupont Circle, I just right-click 'from here' and 'to here' and I get a pull-down menu that lets me do it 'by transit,' and it's a lot fewer clicks and displays in a map," said Michael Perkins, a Navy engineer and self-described "transit geek." Besides, he said, many people are familiar with Google because they use it to find driving directions. Perkins helped organize the online petition drive, which flooded Metro board members with more than 700 e-mails late last year.
Rider interest helped "raise the profile" of the issue, said Metro board member Chris Zimmerman, adding that several members had been pushing the idea well before the petition campaign. ...
Riders applauded Metro's decision to make the data available to everyone, saying it was better than an exclusive agreement with Google with legal restrictions on the agency. The decision means that any enterprising software developer could come up with an application for an online tool and that all riders would benefit, said David Alpert of greatergreaterwashington.org, a Washington-based blog on transportation and urban issues. The blog organized the petition drive.
Whether this is a reasonable provision or not depends on the specifics. I am not a lawyer, but if it simply says something like, "Metro provides this data as is with no warranty," that seems fair. After all, Google crawls this site without requiring an express agreement from me. If Metro's license requires the group downloading the data to expressly indemnify Metro against any lawsuits, to the point of paying Metro's court costs, that could not only deter Google from using it, but deter a small garage developer from building innovative applications. It sounds like Metro means the former. We'll know Monday.
Visiting Greater Greater Washington after reading about us in the Post? Welcome! Here are some other recent articles you might enjoy.
Concerning the Google Transit schedule data:
- Metro refuses to participate in Google Transit (Dec 13, 2008)
- Metro responds: wanted money from Google Transit (Dec 16, 2008)
- Google Transit is not about the $68,000, it's about openness (Dec 18, 2008)
- Google Transit isn't about Google (Jan 8)
- Metro "punts": Will release transit schedule data for Google and others (Mar 11)
- WMATA removes NextBus public test (Mar 3)
- Catoe: NextBus beta "doesn't make sense for Metro" (Mar 6)
- DDOT: NextBus not the answer for Circulator (Mar 17)
- Metro: inaugural champion and economic casualty? (Feb 5)
- Performance park our Metro garages (Feb 23)
- Using stimulus money for Metro operations? Make a plan to pay it back (Mar 11)
- Fund Ride-On, not subsidized parking, says Transit First (Mar 16)
- What WMATA is really suggesting for 2050 (Apr 28, 2008)
- The Metro Express (Feb 19, 2009)
- Greater Baltimore & Washington Transit Future (Feb 25, 2008)
- Greater Baltimore & Washington Transit Future pocket version (Jun 12, 2008)
- Brown Line: We don't need a new color (Oct 7, 2008)
- No bloody slashes, dashes or unnecessary acronyms: renaming the Metro stations (Mar 10, 2009)
- Smart growth, dumb process: Tenley-Janney will proceed without PPP (Mar 16)
- What's "passive green space"? (Mar 3)
- Cheh: "broad-based support" for Wisconsin Giant project
- How to create a successful urban stadium (Feb 18)
- An even better Brookland (Feb 2)
- Let's stimulate with a major bike sharing program (Mar 6)
- It takes a village: why walkable urbanism is good for adolescents (Mar 2)
- Potomac Yards group debates Metro location and auto-oriented principles (Feb 18)
- Get plastic bags out of the Anacostia (Feb 12)
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
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Beginning Monday (March 23), anyone can download technological data about Metrorail and Metrobus routes, stops and schedules on Metro’s Web site.
The raw data is available in a coded format that can be used by anyone who wants to turn the information into a usable computer application, including businesses and Web masters.
“For the average Metro rider, the best way to get up-to-date and accurate bus and rail information is still to visit our Web site, metroopensdoors.com,” said Emeka Moneme, Metro’s Chief Administrative Officer.
Users of the information must agree to Metro’s use of terms before they can download the information, which includes exempting the transit agency from liability. The user also is responsible for keeping the information up-to-date and accurate. Users can sign up for RSS feeds to be notified when the raw data has changed.
“We have received requests for this information by a corporate entity. However, we felt that instead of making our data available to just one corporate giant on an exclusive basis with legal restrictions on us, we decided to make it available to everyone with no legal or financial risks to Metro,” said Moneme.
For now, users can download the information at no cost. As part of Metro efforts to generate new revenue, the transit authority is taking a look at intellectual property, such as schedule data to determine whether there are revenue opportunities in the future.
Beginning Monday, more information about downloading the data can be found at http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/developer_resources.cfm or under the “Rider Tools” section on Metro’s Web site (www.metroopensdoors.com). Look for “Developer Resources.”
by Michael Perkins on Mar 20, 2009 9:47 am • link • report
This service of freely available data is cheaper than WMATA advertising its own services and probably has a similar impact.
I think one of our next steps should be encouraging WMATA to release real-time information like the information that feeds Nextbus and the Metrorail station displays in an open format. Portland's Tri-met does this, and some local businesses put up display boards that show when the next transit vehicle will be coming by.
by Michael Perkins on Mar 20, 2009 9:54 am • link • report
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