Overview

Contents

Comparing the Website, APIs, and Data Products

Transitland brings together many sources of transit data to build a directory of operators and feeds that can be edited by transit enthusiasts and developers.

Transitland Architecture

Here is a diagram of the overall Transitland technical architecture:

diagram of Transitland v2 technical architecture

Comparing the Website, APIs, and Data Products

Transitland provides a range of APIs and data products. All are powered by the same underlying database cluster. Each has a different set of capabilities and constraints:

Status	Root Endpoint	Cost	Uses
production	`https://www.transit.land`	free	Visually browse by map, by table, and perform basic queries
production	`https://transit.land/api/v2/tiles/`	free (with rate limits) or paid	Build your own web maps of stop locations and route geometries. In Mapbox Vector Tile (MVT) format.
production	`https://transit.land/api/v2/rest/`	free (with rate limits) or paid	Fast and easy queries for accessing common data.
production	`https://transit.land/api/v2/query`	paid	The most flexible API for performing a wide variety of queries and analyses. May be slower than v2 REST API for certain queries. May require support for advanced uses.
beta	`https://transit.land/api/v2/routing/otp/plan`	paid	Plan routes by transit. Under beta testing across the entire United States.
beta	Download from website or `https://app.interline.io/transitland_datasets`	free for non-commercial use	Country-wide stops and routes for analysis.
	~~`https://transit.land/api/v1`~~	free (with rate limits)	Original API for exploring data and powering apps.

All Transitland APIs are served from https://transit.land/api/... Note that there is no www hostname, which is reserved for this Transitland website.

Signing up for an API Key

Transitland APIs all require an API key to access. To get an API key, follow these steps:

Open to the sign-up page
If you already have an Interline account (you will have one if you use Interline OSM Extracts) click Sign in in the upper right corner.
Pick a .
Press the Order button and watch your email inbox (or your spam folder) for a notification.
You may retrieve your API key at any time by signing into your Interline account. If it's your first time signing in, press Sign in using your Interline account and then press Forgot password? to set an initial password.
If you selected a Professional plan, Interline staff will be in touch to process payment. You will be able to get started using your new API key at the Free plan rates, in the meantime. Once payment is received, the limits will be increased on that API key.
Use your API key by adding it to any Transitland API request using a query parameter or header using one of the following keys:
- apikey our recommended default
- api_key
- api_token
- access_token

Here is an example request: https://transit.land/api/v2/feeds?api_key=xxx where xxx is replaced with your API key.

Transitland does not use an


Authorization

header. See the above list for headers or query parameters in which you can provide your API key.

How to Participate

Transitland welcome many types of participation:

Please help us to expand the coverage of existing public feeds in the .
Use Transitland APIs to power your own maps, apps, trip planning tools, analyses, and other projects. Share your creations with us by posting to Transitland's "show & tell" discussion board on GitHub.
Share Transitland with your favorite transit agency — whether it's one you ride, you work for, or one you just really like.
If you have further questions, see the options.