Meet the Cross-sector Team Building the Next Generation of Open Shared Mobility Data

MobilityData and the North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA), two industry-leading non-profit organizations, are unveiling a cross-sector team to continue development of the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS), the open data standard for bikeshare and shared mobility trip planning. Together, MobilityData and NABSA have focused on continuing the enhancement and adoption of GBFS, with an emphasis on broadening adoption, increasing the completeness of data specifications, enhancing privacy protections, and improving the accuracy and quality of datasets.

“After a successful first contract with NABSA, it was only natural to consolidate our relationship,” said Leo Frachet, Executive Director of MobilityData. “We implemented the consensus-driven governance process for GBFS in 2019, and we facilitated enhancement within the shared mobility community as a first mandate. We now look forward to working with the GBFS community and promoting the worldwide adoption of the specification.”

A larger community
GBFS 1.0 was introduced by NABSA in 2015 and was subsequently adopted by 230 bike and scooter operators to provide real-time, read-only data for bike and other shared mobility systems. GBFS emerged as a de facto standard that has evolved along with the shared mobility community. MobilityData’s 2019 involvement in GBFS resulted in the introduction of draft GBFS Best Practices. Soon after the enactment of the partnership, GBFS 2.0 was released to support improved traveler privacy and smoother integration with trip-planning applications.

“Partnering with MobilityData has already expedited the development of GBFS,” said Sam Herr, Executive Director of NABSA. “Their expertise in the development of tools that enable data standards adoption aligns with the goals of NABSA and the groups involved with the initial creation of GBFS.”

Supported by MobilityData’s community facilitation and the GBFS governance model, shared mobility industry stakeholders – including GBFS data consumers such as trip-planning applications, government entities, and GBFS data producers such as bikeshare and scooter-share operators – have the opportunity to share their needs and collaborate on the evolution of GBFS.

The partnership between MobilityData and NABSA will ensure the ongoing development of GBFS and increase worldwide adoption among shared mobility systems. Visit GitHub to be part of the conversation: https://github.com/NABSA/gbfs.

About MobilityData
MobilityData began in 2015 as a project of the Rocky Mountain Institute and became an independent Canadian non-profit in 2019. MobilityData brings together and supports mobility stakeholders including transport agencies, software vendors, mobility apps, and cities to standardize and expand data formats such as GTFS and GBFS for public transport and shared mobility. MobilityData’s achievements include industry-endorsed Best Practices for GTFS, the launch of the global open data repository OpenMobilityData.org (in partnership with TransitScreen), and the official adoption of GTFS-Pathways.

About NABSA
The North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA) connects the biggest minds in bikeshare and shared micromobility to support, promote and enhance shared alternatives to traditional transportation across North America. NABSA is the industry’s membership organization with representation from system owners, operators, host cities, equipment manufacturers and technology providers. Learn more at www.nabsa.net.