GTFS feeds come in all shapes and sizes. The Podaris GTFS importer tries to be as flexible and unopinionated as possible, extracting as much useful information from the feed even if certain parts are invalid.
Importing transport networks
Existing transport networks can be imported from a range of industry formats including GTFS, TransXchange (TXC) and NetEX. To import a new network, select the "import" button from the services panel:
Imported files must be provided in the .ZIP format and have a maximum size limit. You may wish to consider removing unneeded trips or unused routes from your feed to reduce its size if you meet this limit.
Podaris converts all imported files to a GTFS feed, meaning that you may use Podaris to import a TCX file before exporting it to GTFS, for example.
GTFS Import Options
The default options are designed to import a feed in a way where it provides accurate routing for journey planning and isochrones. If you are importing a feed to analyse attributes like fleet size or to modify routes, you may wish to modify the import options below.
Geography
Selecting custom polygons allows you to either draw one or multiple polygons, so that only routes contained within those regions are imported. You may also import a shapefile (as .geojson, .kml, etc) in order to use the polygons contained within for this purpose.
Selecting all geographies will import routes from any region specified in your GTFS feed.
Date Range
- All - All dates within the GTFS feed
- Busiest Week
- Custom - Dates within a starting and ending range expressed in YYYY-MM-DD
Exclude Agencies
The Exclude Agencies drop down menu allows you to exclude from import any agencies that you have already specified in your project.
Route Patterns
- Use shapes.txt - the path along which your vehicle will travel. Described as 'patterns' in Podaris. See the GTFS shapes.txt specification.
- Yes - This gives you the option to create missing shapes. This is disabled by default and is a manual process that we can assist with if needed.
- No - This assumes the bus pattern type will be used and allows you specify if the pattern is:
- Auto - that it follows existing road infrastructure
- Manual - that it follows hand-drawn infrastructure within Podaris
Route Trips
- Use trips.txt
- Use frequencies.txt
- Trips without frequencies.txt
- Skip
- Create exact trip - for rows in trips.txt that do not have a frequency.txt mapped to them, this option will cause Podaris to create trips on the route that have the exact departure times of each trip.
Exporting GTFS Feeds
GTFS feeds can be exported in Podaris:Plan from the Export Project menu, selecting the GTFS tab.
This will export all currently visible transport routes and stations. Note that visibility can be toggled with the 
button (shown below for routes).
The export GTFS window gives you options to Use Podaris IDs. This will override any agency, stop, and route IDs set throughout Podaris, replacing them with our internal IDs, which are guaranteed to be unique.
The Include parent stops even if hidden option allows you to choose to include hidden parent stations in your outputted GTFS feed.
Further Help
Our support team can help you get your transport networks imported in a way that best serves your use-case. For more information about the GTFS format, please visit GTFS.org.