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Public transport users need more than just a timetable. They want to know quickly whether their bus is on time, whether there are delays and what is happening across the network at that particular moment.
This is exactly where PadoVia comes in. The project aims to make public transport information quicker and easier to access. Instead of requiring users to plan an entire journey simply to check whether their regular bus is delayed, for example, an overview of line statuses can provide the information much faster.
The same principle applies to timetables: large tables or documents containing extensive information can be difficult to navigate. Filtering the information and displaying only what is relevant creates a more intuitive user experience.
To provide these features in South Tyrol, PadoVia needed access to official, reliable and up-to-date local public transport data, both static and real-time.
Instead of establishing its own individual connection to the source data, PadoVia accesses South Tyrol’s official public transport information through Open Data Hub. Open Data Hub’s Data Access service provides standardised APIs that give the application a central point of access to South Tyrol’s public transport data.
PadoVia uses GTFS data for scheduled public transport information and GTFS-RT data for real-time information such as trip updates and vehicle positions. Both are made available through Open Data Hub. By combining scheduled and live information, the application can present a more complete picture of the transport network.
Real-time vehicle positions are particularly valuable for PadoVia’s approach to mobility. Interactive maps can help users see connections and delays and navigate the transport system more easily. The PadoVia team highlights that open access to real-time vehicle positions is still relatively uncommon, despite its potential to improve the passenger experience.
Open Data Hub simplifies integration by providing standardised access to reliable public transport data that can be reused across different mobility solutions – from journey planners to smart mobility services.
Access to data is the first step. Its real value comes from how that data is transformed into a useful service.
PadoVia takes official information and presents it in a way that reflects how people actually use public transport. The project highlights the importance of local knowledge: cities and regions have different characteristics and mobility patterns, and a standardised representation of data does not always fully meet users’ needs.
Understanding local travel patterns therefore makes it possible to transform raw data into a more intuitive interface that is better suited to the local context.
PadoVia demonstrates how standardised access to official public transport data can become the basis for practical, user-focused mobility services. Through Open Data Hub, developers and mobility providers can access GTFS and GTFS-RT data and integrate scheduled and real-time transport information into their own applications.
Explore the available public transport data and discover how the same approach can support your next mobility project.
Find out how to get started with Data Access:
Grigory Vodyanov & Federico FrancoWe believe that allowing access to real-time mobility data is important and is a significant quality-of-life improvement for users.