October 4, 2022, North America— In the interest of supporting the evolution of the GBFS specification, NABSA has transferred ownership of GBFS to MobilityData. Through a three-year partnership between the two organizations, it became clear that MobilityData, being the industry leader in the governance and expansion of mobility data specifications (such as the GTFS specification for public transit), is the right stakeholder to host the repository moving forward. 

”NABSA’s primary role with GBFS was to incubate, initiate, and champion the creation of a standard for micromobility data-sharing to aid the accessibility and effectiveness of shared micromobility as a transportation choice in communities,” says Samantha Herr, executive director of NABSA. ”Since NABSA selected MobilityData to be the technical steward of the GBFS specification in 2019, MobilityData has been able to ensure that GBFS evolves with the needs of the shared mobility industry, and importantly make it easier for travelers to incorporate shared micromobility into their trip-planning. We can’t think of a better and more capable organization to carry on the mission of GBFS.”

GBFS defines a common format to share the real-time status of a shared mobility system. This allows, for example, trip-planning applications such as Transit and Google Maps, to help travelers plan and locate devices for shared micromobility trips.

Under NABSA’s leadership, the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) Version 1 was developed by a team of bikeshare system owners and operators, application developers, and technology vendors and released in 2015. Through a competitive process in 2019, NABSA selected MobilityData to become the technical steward for the GBFS community, which involved improving the specification and its governance to meet evolving industry needs. Since then, NABSA and MobilityData have continued a partnership to advance the use and evolution of GBFS, and it has been expanded to include all shared mobility. GBFS is now used by more than 730 systems in over 40 countries. As of 2021, 87% of cities in North America required a GBFS feed for shared micromobility services. MobilityData has released three new GBFS versions, helped develop a pipeline for shared mobility integration into major trip planning applications, and improved GBFS adoption through efforts with their international network of stakeholders. GBFS has now been approved for use by the National Access Points in Europe, and MobilityData has provided guidance and policy guides for the Americas and for Europe in multiple languages.

A natural transition 

As the membership-based association for shared micromobility representing the public, private, and nonprofit organizations involved in implementing shared micromobility, NABSA was a natural fit to convene a group of cross-sector stakeholders to create a new open data specification to support the accessibility and growth of shared micromobility. As the specification developed, and the shared micromobility industry continued to evolve and become more complex, it became clear that GBFS needed the leadership and guidance of a technical steward to support its growth. In 2019 NABSA selected MobilityData for that role. A natural evolution of the partnership between the two organizations, the evolution of the industry, and the continued evolution of GBFS has resulted in the need for a new level of technical stewardship. The transfer of GBFS from NABSA to MobilityData will enable greater development and sustainability for the specification over time. NABSA will remain a champion of GBFS and will continue to track North American adoption in our annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report.

MobilityData’s ambitions for GBFS 

By owning the GBFS repository, MobilityData will reinforce its vision of having  shared mobility information for travelers that will be primarily produced and consumed in compliant, publicly published GBFS format. This transition ensures that GBFS continues to provide great value to the shared mobility community. 

“It is very much aligned with our scope to be the owner of GBFS, especially with all the efforts we are investing in the tools and resource development to increase the quality of GBFS feeds and support the shared mobility community. We look forward to continuing to serve the shared mobility community, improving the traveler experience, and supporting efforts to make shared mobility more accessible” says Elisabeth Poirier-Defoy, Interim Executive Director, at MobilityData.  

About MobilityData

Incubated at the 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.

About NABSA

The North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association (NABSA) collaborates across sectors to grow shared micromobility and its benefits to communities, creating a more equitable and sustainable transportation ecosystem. NABSA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing resources, education, and advocacy for the shared micromobility industry, and to creating spaces for the industry’s public, private, and nonprofit sectors to convene and empower each other. 

For more information:

Elisabeth Poirier-Defoy
Interim Executive Director
elisabeth@mobilitydata.org

Samantha Herr
Executive Director
sam@nabsa.net