Hi Nikhil,

Great job - how can I contribute to this? I'll have a look at the Github 
repo!

On Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 10:58:56 PM UTC+5:30, Nikhil VJ wrote:
>
> Hi Friends,
>
> Over the last few months I went deep-dive into a project with WRI (World 
> Resources Institute) and Kochi Metro in Kerala (KMRL) to convert their 
> scheduling data to the global standard static GTFS 
> <https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs/reference/> format. 
>
> The first phase of the project was about just the data conversion. I wrote 
> a python program that took in KMRL's data files and some configuration 
> files, and created a static GTFS feed as output. There were many more 
> complexities than I can share here, and Shine David from KMRL was a crucial 
> enabler by being the inside man sharing all necessary info and 
> clarifications.
>
> On 17 March this year, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd became India's first transit 
> agency to publish static GTFS feed of their system as open data.
>
> See the *KMRL open data portal* <https://kochimetro.org/open-data/> and 
> some news coverage: 1 
> <http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2018/mar/17/kochi-metro-adopts-open-data-system-to-improve-access-to-its-services-1788342.html>
> , 2 
> <http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kochi-metro-throws-open-transit-data-to-public-on-the-lines-of-london-new-york-5100381/>
> , 3 
> <http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/open-data-to-improve-commuter-experience/article23275844.ece>
> , 4 
> <http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/kmrl-moves-a-step-ahead-to-open-up-transit-data/article23247617.ece>
> .
>
> See it visualized on a global GTFS feeds map called TRAVIC 
> <http://tracker.geops.ch/?z=2&s=1&x=1796473.6262&y=2340903.0780&l=transport>
> . 
> (zoom in to kochi and press fast forward. Can adjust time of day.)
>
> Phase 2 of the project aimed higher : we started work on a program with a 
> graphical user interface that would automate several manual processes and 
> help KMRL update their data as the network grows, publish updated feeds on 
> their own without having to rely on any external entity, and very 
> importantly for their case, integrate bus and ferry routes of Kochi in the 
> near future to build towards a unified public transport dataset and 
> facilitate integrated ticketing. As we progressed into this we realised the 
> potential this can have if we generalise it so that any transit agency can 
> use it.
>
> So, here's launching..
>
> https://github.com/WRI-Cities/static-GTFS-manager
>
>
>
> Did I mention we have open sourced the whole thing? Big Kudos to WRI and 
> especially Vishal who co-ordinated the whole project, for being proactive 
> and pro-open-source with this. 
>
> The program runs in the browser (actually, please use Chrome or Chromium 
> and no mobile!) as a website with a server backend created by a Python 3 
> program. It manages the data in a portable internal database and publishes 
> fresh GTFS feeds whenever wanted.
>
> To play around with a live demo version of the program, see: 
> *https://thawing-mountain-46422.herokuapp.com/ 
> <https://thawing-mountain-46422.herokuapp.com/>*
>
> Note: If you want to make edits, imports or exports, the password is 
> second paragraph > second line > fifth word of this email. And I won't 
> maintain this instance (made a throwaway one to share with big mailing 
> lists) so go ahead and mess with it at own expense.
>
> Note: while it's compatible to publish this program on a free heroku 
> account, it is currently not designed for multi-user use. That's kind of 
> not in the basic requirements, as end user is just a transport agency's 
> internal team. (With your participation we can change that.)
>
>
> So, why I am sharing about this here: Apart from obviously sharing cool 
> stuff,
>
> With this it's possible to design any transport system's static GTFS feed 
> *from 
> scratch*, or edit an older feed you have lying around and bring it up to 
> date.
>
> ---------------------
>
> Invitation for Collaboration
>
> There is more that can be done with enhancements and integrations, and 
> there are still some limitations 
> <https://github.com/WRI-Cities/static-GTFS-manager/issues> that need to 
> be resolved. I'm documenting all I know in the issues section. So I'm 
> reaching out for inviting collaborations on the coding and beta testing 
> front. One motive behind open sourcing is that the community can achieve 
> far more with this project than what any private individual or group can. 
> There's also scope to integrate many other GTFS innovations 
> <https://github.com/CUTR-at-USF/awesome-transit> happening. Please visit 
> the github repo and engage!
>
> One immediate request from my end: I need help with making a windows 
> binary from this program. I found the guides to do it, but my laptop's 
> windows OS is  gone wonky, for some reason I'm not able to get some things 
> to work out. I'm looking for someone who can do python 3 on a windows 
> machine.
>
> Lastly, big shout-out to DMers Srinivas Kodali from Hyderabad chapter for 
> connecting and lots of guiding, and to Devdatta Tengshe from Pune chapter 
> for helping me learn asynchronous server setup in Python in a lightning 
> fast way (with a working example 
> <https://github.com/devdattaT/sampleTornadoApp> for dummies!)
>
>
> Quick links:
> https://github.com/WRI-Cities/static-GTFS-manager
> https://thawing-mountain-46422.herokuapp.com/
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Nikhil VJ
> +91-966-583-1250
> Pune, India
> Website <http://nikhilvj.co.in>
> DataMeet Pune chapter <https://datameet-pune.github.io/>
> Self-designed learner at Swaraj University <
> http://www.swarajuniversity.org>
> Contribute <https://www.instamojo.com/@nikhilvj/>
>

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