To figure out how to travel somewhere using Google Transit, just enter starting and ending locations and the time and date to arrive or leave by and Google Transit returns a selection of travel options, travel itinerary and map with walking directions. Google Transit even returns instructions for transferring between buses and systems.

Some of the advantages of this planner:

• registration in the program is free
• Google Transit is available in many international languages
• Google Transit is available on different platforms (computers, tablets, mobile phones)
• Increased awareness among tourists
• Implementation time and low cost (compared to a solution created from scratch)

What we do:

The solution proposed by our company is complete. It refers not only to implement Google Transit routes, but also a part dealing with the current display (on the site, in stations, lines or sheets on bus inspection booths). To do this, depending on customer needs and desires, we can implement an executable program that will generate all necessary documents in the desired format.

To help the Transport Agency to implement this, Krogan Inventiv company has launched a product that prepare de information in the format the Google askes, GTFS format. With our solution, you minimize the cost and time for this implementation.

Because every agency has own unique format to keep the transport information, we try to use that format to generate the necesary files, avoiding duplication the information.

Implementation for customers

The most important aspect here is related to keeping the same format for information (if possible) to minimize the time to accommodate to the new flow files. For this, the first step is to identify the current state of data paths, and then make a proposal for the client, trying to be as similar as it has at that time.
In the next image is briefly presented the process of generating the internal files.

Data for internal data flow

Input files:

• an information source documents (TXT, XLS)
• images – used to insert them into documents logos, arrows, etc.
• a CSS configuration documents – used to keep the parameters for generating finished files (for websites)

Executable program:

• is an executable program on Windows systems (can be done to support Linux)
• can receive additional parameter (the line for which you want data)
• configure to customer’s requirements

Final documents:

• HTML documents (web pages) – used to display the information on the directing website
• PDF documents – documents that generally contain required physical display (in stations), (the PDF format was chosen for an easier printing)
• TXT documents – various statistics regarding the files generating
• XLS documents – data relating to waypoints

The final format and it’s arrangement depends on the customers needs. Our goal is to have the smallest impact as we can on the final format (regarding the layout, the structure of documents, etc).

Advantages
Yes, it sounds good, but let’s see which are the real advantages of this solution:

• it minimizes the risk of error (the information is in one place, handled automatically by the program)
• uniformity of output files (with the desired format settings somewhere, the program will generate every time the same format, being also parametric while being adaptable to changes resulting from the process data)
• uniform time between stations (if the information is in one place, the risk of human error decreases to zero)
• generation time is very small (running the program to generate information for a route is less than 1 minute, during which all required files are generated)
• multilanguage file are easy to be generated (HTML files can be generated automatically in any language)
• an easy addition of translations into other languages ( a new language is added easily, using key words)
• an opportunity to change the data format in one place (if you want a change of format, display, layout, etc this will happen only in one place, then followed again to generate information)

Disadvantages
Yes, they have to be presented. But unfortunately we found none.

Google Transit Implementation

For Google Transit, we need another program with similar functionality which can turn your source documents following specific information in TXT documents thru GTFS. These files are taken from Google, from a certain location (specified at the beginning), and on this basis it will provide traffic information to its users.

Data Flow for Google Transit

Having the first part done, this implementation is much easier. Additionally to the first-hand, the information stations is needed (GPS coordinates, description) to make the connection between points.
Each program will generate data based on all input files.