Use shapes.txt from GTFS

[vsp-gleich]

Many (but not all) GTFS Providers include a shapes.txt file. This includes among others some major public transit networks such as VBB (Berlin), OV (the whole Netherlands), Wiener Linien (Vienna), Trafiklab GTFS Regional SL (Stockholm).
I was wondering whether it would make sense to use these shape files in order to have more waypoints (in addition to the stop coordinates) and thereby more precise routes. At least for VBB the shape files seem to provide significantly more detailed information than the stop locations only.
Is there any particular reason why shapes.txt is not used yet (except of no time to implement it - which is a very good reason :-) )?

[polettif]

There actually is a mapper implementation that uses gtfs shapes to improve mapping accuracy: ScheduleRoutersGtfsShapes. However, it's only a proof of concept and its documentation is lacking. I don't know if it still works, the config has changed quite a bit in the meantime. PTMapperShapesTest might give you some pointers. Let me know if you were able to make it work :)

The base mapper was intended to work without additional data like shapes.txt or GPS points. After that I didn't have time (and still don't) to expand the workflow/docs for other implementations. But the general idea for any improved mapper is to modify the link costs, so links closer to the route shape get reduced routing costs.

[vsp-gleich]

Thank you for your quick response :-)
I was not aware of that class, so thanks for the pointers! We might give a student the task to look into that. I will let you know if there is some progress.