MobilityData to Assume Management of MDIP, TIDES, and TODS
MobilityData, the international non-profit that facilitates data interoperability across the mobility industry, will assume management of three programs designed to ensure improved access to mobility data for transit agencies and their customers: the Mobility Data Interoperability Principles (MDIP), the Transit ITS Data Exchange Specification (TIDES), and the Transit Operational Data Specification (TODS). The three programs had been previously developed and incubated in partnership with the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP). Supporting these efforts is in line with MobilityData’s core mission to support the development and advancement of open-source transport-data standards and initiatives that aim to provide better, more consistent traveler information.
“We’re excited to reinforce our core mission through this work,” said Eric Plosky, MobilityData Executive Director. “We’ve learned from our community, and our experience, that data interoperability, and operational-data issues, are key barriers in the way of improving traveler information. We look forward to building on the great foundations that have already been created.”
“Cal-ITP is pleased to play a critical role in this management transition,” said Gillian Gillett, Cal-ITP Program Manager. “After supporting the development of those initiatives, with the governing committees, we are happy to have MobilityData assuming their management.”
“Coming from a transit agency, TIDES provides users of transit data better ways to access and manage their resources and offers a foundation for shared industry best practice tools to improve data quality, integrate data sources, and create reports and tools to plan and manage service.” added John Levin, the TIDES Board Coordinator.
The three governing organizations will continue their ongoing support as the management transition occurs over the next several months.
About Mobility Data Interoperability Principles
The Mobility Data Interoperability Principles (MDIP) coalition comprises government agencies, mobility service providers, and non-profit organizations that are dedicated to changing the relationship between transit and technology. MDIP establishes a vision for the transit industry in which all mobility data is communicated by interoperable technology components using open standards. Interoperability is the next step for the software and hardware that support transit operations, planning, reporting, and the rider experience. It is a necessary condition for transit to keep pace with the changing world of personal mobility and to develop services that meet the expectations of the riding public. More information is available at https://www.interoperablemobility.org/.
About Transit ITS Data Exchange Specification
The Transit ITS Data Exchange Specification (TIDES) is an open data specification for transit operations data including vehicle location data, passenger count data, and fare transaction data. TIDES provides a shared ecosystem of software tools to support the access, management, integration, and improvement of these historical transit operations data sets. In much the same way that GTFS has revolutionized the way transit agencies manage, exchange, and use transit schedule data, the goal of TIDES is to do the same for the management, exchange, and use of transit operations data. More information is available at https://tides-transit.org/.
About Transit Operational Data Standard
The Operational Data Standard (TODS) is an open standard for describing scheduled transit operations. TODS is based on GTFS, and extends it to include information about personnel and non-revenue service. These concepts are necessary for transit operators to be able to run a scheduled service. TODS was originally developed as a product of the Operational Data Standard Working Group, which was convened by Cal-ITP in 2021. More information is available at https://ods.calitp.org/.
About MobilityData
MobilityData is the global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of open-source transportation data standards. With over 100 members and nearly 20 employees, MobilityData brings together and supports international mobility stakeholders such as transport operators, software vendors, app developers, and government agencies to standardize and expand open transport data formats, such as the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) for public transport and the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) for shared mobility. Learn more at https://mobilitydata.org.
About Cal-ITP
The California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) was established by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to both improve and encourage the use of multimodal travel throughout California—by enabling contactless open-loop payments, standardizing information for easy multimodal trip planning, and automating customer discounts. Over the past two years, Cal-ITP successfully led contactless open-loop payment implementations in California on Monterey-Salinas and Santa Barbara buses; Sacramento light rail; intercity passenger rail between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area; on-demand transit vans; and LAX’s FlyAway bus, which connects airport passengers to commuter rail.
Learn more at https://calitp.org and on @California_ITP on X, or by subscribing to the Caltrans Mobility Newsletter. And visit Cal-ITP’s CAMobilityMarketplace.org for a catalog of code-compliant products and services for public mobility providers, including contactless payment acceptance hardware and software and competitively priced cellular data plans.
