MobilityData is releasing a Canonical GBFS Validator
MobilityData and Fluctuo are proud to offer an open source canonical General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) validator to help the Shared Mobility community improve the quality of data.
November 9th, 2021, Montreal, Quebec, Canada — MobilityData and Fluctuo have partnered to develop a Canonical GBFS Validator, an open source tool that helps the shared mobility community to assess if a dataset complies with the specification, leading to higher quality data. To benefit all without restrictions, the tool is publicly available on the MobilityData GitHub repository, with clear guidelines for users.
« Expanding and improving the General Bikeshare Feed Specification is a critical part of our work. However, these improvements are even more valuable when paired with tools that support the production and consumption of high quality data. Thanks to the contribution of Fluctuo, our team is now very proud to give the shared mobility community a functional and easy to use Canonical GBFS Validator. Higher quality data means more comprehensive and reliable information for travelers », shared Heidi Guenin, Director, Product, Shared Mobility at MobilityData.
« Fluctuo’s mission is to help public authorities and transport companies to make data-driven decisions on mobility services & infrastructures. We had developed a GBFS validator internally , but transferring it to MobilityData and making it public was what makes most sense for the shared mobility ecosystem », added Pierrick Paul, CTO at Fluctuo.
Why quality matters
GBFS is the de facto standard for shared mobility data, providing key information for travelers. It is consumed by trip planning and Mobility as a Service (Maas) applications in hundreds of cities, with over 640 systems worldwide published in our public catalog of GBFS datasets.
In order for travelers to find and use shared mobility services, GBFS data needs to be of high quality. Additionally, local authorities, researchers, and advocates use GBFS data to understand the effects of shared mobility services. The entire GBFS ecosystem benefits from high quality data, and the Canonical GBFS Validator is one step towards that goal.
A solution brought up by the community
Pierrick Paul, Fluctuo’s co-founder, connected with MobilityData during one of their training days on GBFS. He had created an open-source GBFS Validator and wanted to see the project expanded and made useful for the whole community. MobilityData became the clear choice as the right organization to host and maintain the tool. The Canonical GBFS Validator works with GBFS datasets up to version 2.2 of the specification, and it is based on MobilityData’s JSON schemas. It comes with a user-friendly interface where the user can simply enter the URL of their GBFS feed and see the results. In their agreement, MobilityData will be maintaining the development of the tool, while Fluctuo will remain involved in the project to share their expertise.
Everyone is welcome to share ideas for new rules and features by opening an issue on the repository.
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About MobilityData
Incubated at the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in 2015, MobilityData became a Canadian non-profit in 2019 with the mission to improve travelers’ information. Today, with over 20 employees worldwide, MobilityData enlists and enables international mobility stakeholders such as transport agencies, shared mobility operators, software vendors, mobility apps, and cities to standardize and expand data formats such as GTFS and GBFS for public transport and shared mobility. MobilityData acts as an industry facilitator, creating opportunities for strengthened interoperability while assisting the industry’s rapid transformation through training and tools. Learn more on mobilitydata.org.
Elisabeth Poirier-Defoy
Deputy Executive Director and Director of Communication – MobilityData
About fluctuo
fluctuo is Europe’s leading aggregator of data on shared mobility services (bikes, scooters, mopeds, cars). fluctuo helps its clients to monitor and understand market trends and to improve the performance of their services, by providing daily data on more than 200 shared mobility providers in 80 European cities. Fluctuo has also developed an API that displays real-time information on shared vehicles and enables users to book them through third party apps and websites (e.g. from cities, public transport companies and tourism operators).
Pierrick Paul
CTO – fluctuo
