Get your client's schedules and stops appearing in online journey planner and map search results
Your client is wants to be impressed. And you want to differentiate yourself from your competition. They have a great website, optimised pages for search results and a strong marketing campaign. However, if your client provides regularly scheduled travel over set routes, they may be missing from the most important search result of all. If they are not appearing on journey planners and maps search results, then their potential customers are highly likely to use other alternatives. They are missing out and you have an opportunity to improve their business.
Location based searching has become increasingly popular over the last 5 years. Most webmasters and SEO companies have ensured that their client's shops, offices, and factories now appear on online maps. The move from paper based telephone directories to online location searches can be considered history. Now, the industry wide move for transit companies (e.g. Public Transport, Bus, Shuttle buses, Ferries, Planes, Tour operators, Trains, Trams, Heritage Vehicles, etc.) schedules to be displayed on online journey planners is gaining considerable momentum.
Unfortunately, your clients well designed website cannot be used by online journey planners. This means that your client's services are missing from online journey planners. The only way that your clients will appear is if their trip details are converted and stored in the industry's standard GTFS file format. Each of the GTFS users then needs to be made aware of your clients GTFS file and any subsequent updates.
That's where we (AddTransit) can help. You could build the files yourself using Excel or Notepad (yes, that's what the old timers did it), but unless you want to spend time ensuring the 7:05am record in File A has the same key value that's used in File B and File F, it makes sense to use a GTFS software editing tool such as AddTransit.com.
Our GTFS software gives you an inexpensive way to create, edit, update and communicate these timetable, stop and contact details to the companies that use GTFS files. As there's a constantly growing list of GTFS users that range from the Google, Bing and Yahoo through to smartphone app providers and even real estate companies (e.g. they use the file to show how easy is it to get around a location), it just makes sense to use us to monitor the industry developments and get the best results for you and your client.
We can help create your client's schedule from scratch, maintain it, perform data entry and suggest improvements. Get Started today!
Relevant Blog Posts: Creating GTFS Data feeds GTFS - Why you are missing out on passengers GTFS Tools
