Route Element

The <route/> element models agencies in OneBusAway. Routes are directly mapped from entries in the GTFS routes.txt file from the GTFS feeds that power an API instance.

Example

<route>
  <id>1_48</id>
  <shortName>48</shortName>
  <longName>U Dist/Greenwood</longName>
  <description>U Dist/Greenwood</description>
  <type>3</type>
  <url>http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/schedules/s048_0_.html</url>
  <color>00FFFF</color>
  <textColor>FF0000</textColor>
  <agencyId>1</agencyId>
</route>

Details

The fields of the route element closely match the fields defined for routes in the GTFS spec.

A few important details:

  • The only fields that are absolutely required are id, type and agencyId.
  • Agencies are not required to specify both a shortName and longName, thought they must specify at least one. Some will specify one but not the other. Others will include both. Confounding matters even more, some agencies don’t specify a longName but do specify a description that’s effectively a longName. The result is that care must be taken when constructing a route name by using the information that you’re actually given.