GTFS2TransitSchedule

This guide whill show you how to convert GTFS data to a MATSim Transit Schedule

Automatic conversion

• Put the set of GTFS files of each public transport system in a different folder of your file system.
• Create a java program that constructs an object of the class GGTFS2MATSimTransitSchedule in the package GTFS2PTSchedule which is part of this extension. For this you need to specify:

1. An array of folders (File class) where your public transport system specifications are located.
2. An array of Strings representing the network modes correspondent to each public transport defined in b) (e. g. “car” for buses, “rail” for metro).
3. The MATSim network object with the nodes in latitude and longitude coordinates (WGS84).
4. An array of Strings with the names of the calendar services that are desired (e. g. “weekday”, “daily”). Remember that MATSim only simulates one day, but the GTFS files specify routes for many calendar days or dates.
5. The desired output coordinates system

• Call the method TransitSchedule getTransitSchedule(). Then, each route of each given public transit systems will be processed with the semi-automatic procedure presented in the following figure.
  

Manual correction of automatic conversion

For the manual editing process one can visualize, edit and verify the solution for each route:

• Visualization: A navigation network is displayed, including all relevant information for working with one single route. This includes the route’s profile, the given sequence of GPS points and its current solution (path and stop-link relationships). Selected elements are drawn in a different color. All is displayed in a bi-dimensional interactive way with refresh of the cursor location in the working coordinates, and panning, zoom and view-all options.
• Selection: Different options for selecting elements of the solution or elements from the network are provided. It is possible to select the nearest link (solution or network), nearest node (network) or nearest stop (solution) to a point indicated by the user. When a stop that has a stop-link relationship already, the corresponding link is selected as well. If a link of the solution path is selected and it does not have a subsequent link connected, a new one from the network is selected with one click; the selected link is the one with the most similar angle than the line defined by the end node of the initial link and a point indicated by the user.
• Solution modification: The first link of the sequence can be added selecting any link of the network. If a link of the solution path does not have a subsequent link connected, it is possible to add one according to the selection function described in (b). If there are two subsequent links in the solution that are not connected (a gap), a subsequence that connects the mentioned links is added, using the shortest path algorithm, with the current parameters. Furthermore, selecting one link of the path, it is possible to delete it, or to delete all the links before or after it. Finally, stop-link relationships can be modified selecting both elements. If the modified relationship was fixed, the user is prevented because the tool erase the solutions of the routes to which the selected stop belongs.
• Network modification: New nodes to the road network can be added. In addition, with any node selected, it is possible to add a new link selecting the end node.

Hints and interaction details:

• It is necessary to pass the verification process (“Is OK”) for saving a route result
• The routes are saved in temporal files located in the ./data/paths/ folder relative to the program location.
• Panning and zoom functions are provided dragging the mouse and moving the mouse wheel.
• View all function is provided typing the “v” key
• Up and down keys allow to select the next or previous link of the path.
• “<” or ”>” keys allow to select the previous or next stop

  

Saving the converted data

Finally, after the semi-automatic process, the Transit Schedule object is returned and the network object is modified (splitting, new nodes and links, and modes of the links). One can save in a XML the TransitSchedule object constructing a TransitScheduleWriter object, and the modified network with a NetworkWriter.