Fares
GTFS allows to preciely model a wide variety of fare structures used by different transit agencies around the world, such as fares based by zone, by distance traveled, or by time-of-day. GTFS Fares informs riders of the price applicable to their trip and the media they can use to pay.
Fare Products
Fare Products lists the types of tickets or fares (i.e. single-trip fare, monthly pass, transfer fees, etc.) offered by a transit agency to access a service. Fare Products serve as a foundation for modeling an agency's fare structure, and they are linked to the transit service through mechanisms outlined in fare_leg_rules.txt. The association of Fare Products to various travel conditions, such as routes, areas, and times, determines the fare costs for individual travel segments and transfers.
Sample Data
The following tables presents a simple fare product (single ride $2.75 USD).
fare_products.txt
| fare_product_id |
fare_product_name |
amount |
currency |
| single_ride |
Single Ride Fare |
2.75 |
USD |
Fare Media defines the supported media that can be used to hold and/or validate a fare product. This refers to physical or virtual containers such as a paper ticket, a rechargeable transit card or even contactless payment with credit cards or smartphones.
Sample Data
The following table shows a snippet of different fare media in the San Francisco Bay Area. Clipper is described as a physical transit card with fare_media_type=2. SFMTA Munimobile is described as a mobile app with fare_media_type=2. Cash which is given directly to the driver without a ticket, is fare_media_type=0.
fare_media.txt
| fare_media_id |
fare_media_name |
fare_media_type |
| clipper |
Clipper |
2 |
| munimobile |
SFMTA MuniMobile |
4 |
| cash |
Cash |
0 |
fare_products.txt
| fare_product_id |
fare_product_name |
amount |
currency |
fare_media_id |
| single_ride |
Single Ride Fare |
2.75 |
USD |
munimobile |
Route-Based Fares
Route-Based Fares is used to assign different fares for specific groups of routes, such as special fares for express services or differentiating fares between a Bus Rapid Transit service versus traditional bus services.
Sample Data
The following tables shows a system that categorizes routes into express and local categories, each associated with distinct fare products.
Using networks.txt + route_networks.txt
networks.txt
| network_id |
network_name |
| express |
Express |
| local |
Local |
route_networks.txt
| network_id |
route_id |
| express |
express_a |
| express |
express_b |
| local |
local_1 |
| local |
local_2 |
fare_leg_rules.txt
| network_id |
fare_product_id |
| express |
express_single_ride |
| local |
local_single_ride |
OR using routes.networks_id
routes.txt
| route_id |
network_id |
| express_a |
express |
| express_b |
express |
| local_1 |
local |
| local_2 |
local |
fare_leg_rules.txt
| network_id |
fare_product_id |
| express |
express_single_ride |
| local |
local_single_ride |
Time-Based Fares
Time-based Fares is used to assign fares for specific time-of-day or day-of-week, such as peak and off-peak fares and/or weekend fares.
| Files included |
Fields included |
| fare_leg_rules.txt |
fare_product_id, from_timeframe_group_id, to_timeframe_group_id |
| timeframes.txt |
timeframe_group_id, start_time, end_time, service_id |
Sample Data
The following tables presents a system where the peak hours are from 8:00 to 10:00, and the remaining hours are off-peak.
timeframes.txt
| timeframe_group_id |
start_time |
end_time |
service_id |
| peak |
8:00:00 |
10:00:00 |
all_day |
| regular |
0:00:00 |
08:00:00 |
all_day |
| regular |
10:00:00 |
24:00:00 |
all_day |
fare_leg_rules.txt
| from_timeframe_group_id |
fare_product_id |
| peak |
peak_single_ride |
| regular |
regular_single_ride |
Zone-Based Fares
Zone-Based Fares is used to represent zone-based systems where a specific fare applies when traveling from one particular zone to another. A zone is defined by a group of stops.
Sample Data
The following tables shows the fare from Zone A to Zone B.
areas.txt
| area_id |
area_name |
| zone_a |
Zone A |
| zone_b |
Zone B |
stop_areas.txt
| area_id |
stop_id |
| zone_a |
stop_a |
| zone_a |
stop_b |
| zone_b |
stop_c |
| zone_b |
stop_d |
Fares Transfers
Fares Transfers is used to define rules applicable when transferring between legs (or individual travel segments). This allows to model the total cost of a multi-leg travel journey, accounting for special transfer policies, such as free transfers for a specific time limit, or applying fare discounts based on legs already traveled.
| Files included |
Fields included |
| fare_leg_rules.txt |
leg_group_id |
| fare_transfer_rules.txt |
from_leg_group_id, to_leg_group_id, transfer_count, duration_limit, duration_limit_type, fare_transfer_type, fare_product_id |
Sample Data
The following table illustrates that within a 2-hour window, unlimited free transfers are allowed between Leg A within the system.
fare_transfer_rules.txt
| from_leg_group_id |
to_leg_group_id |
transfer_count |
duration_limit |
duration_limit_type |
fare_transfer_type |
fare_product_id |
| a |
a |
-1 |
7200 |
1 |
0 |
free_transfer |
Fares V1
Fares v1 is a legacy alternative to other Fares features described above. It allows to model basic fare information such as fare pricing, payment methods transfers and zone-based fares using the fare_rules.txt and fare_attributes.txt files. While simpler to produce, it's less capable or modeling more complex fare structures and may be deprecated with sufficient endorsement of other Fare features (that are part of what is called Fares v2).
| Files included |
Fields included |
| stops.txt |
zone_id |
| fare_attributes.txt |
fare_id price currency_type payment_method transfers agency_id transfer_duration |
| fare_rules.txt |
fare_id route_id origin_id destination_id contains_id |
Sample Data
The following tables illustrates that a trip on a network costs $3.20 CAD using a prepaid card, allowing free transfers within a 2-hour window.
fare_attributes.txt
| fare_id |
price |
currency_type |
payment_method |
transfers |
transfer_duration |
| prepaid-card_fare |
3.2 |
CAD |
1 |
|
7200 |
fare_rules.txt
| fare_id |
route_id |
origin_id |
destination_id |
| prepaid-card_fare |
line1 |
subway_stations |
subway_stations |
| prepaid-card_fare |
line2 |
subway_stations |
subway_stations |
stops.txt
| stop_id |
stop_name |
stop_lat |
stop_lon |
zone_id |
| A |
stopA |
43.670049 |
-79.385389 |
subway_stations |
| B |
stopB |
43.671049 |
-79.386789 |
subway_stations |