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Did you know that transit agencies around the globe make their data streams available to the public via a Google-developed platform called General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS)? Among those are Los Angeles agencies like Metro and Metrolink; they are just two of the hundreds of agencies whose data goes to the GTFS, which keeps tabs on details like train and bus lines, schedules and stop frequency.
A YouTube user took the GTFS data for a 24-hour period and turned them into videos for the various transit agencies. Each stop is a tiny white dot on a broad black expanse; in L.A.'s Metro, though, you can soon see the transit landscape of the city emerge above the blue base of the Pacific, with Downtown a bright hub. A little less blingy is Metrolink, with its commuter trains crisscrossing the county.
One weekday (from 4am to 4am) of transit activity in Los Angeles, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by the Metro:
One weekday (from 3:30am to 3:30am) of transit activity in Southern California, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by Metrolink:
