The fascinating, undiscovered world of the GBFS micromobility data formats

Oliver Bruce
Podcast
September 10, 2020

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Micromobility data standards are the rails new micromobility juggernautswill be built on.In this episode, Oliver interviews Sam Herr, Executive Director of NorthAmerican Bikeshare Association (NABSA), and Heidi Gennin, Shared MobilityProduct Manager at Mobility Data, about the Generalized Bikeshare FeedSpecification (GBFS) data format.Admittedly, it sounds dry, and yet, it’s a fascinating episode, with Heidiand Sam doing a great job explaining both what it is and why something assimple as a data format can supercharge the development of non-cartransportation in our cities.Specifically they dig into:What is a Data format and why does it matter?What is the GBFS and how does it connect to NABSA, Rocky MountainInstitute, and the GTFS.How does the GBFS relate to the Mobility Data Specification?Which countries around the world use the data standards for their bikeshares, and why this is a rapidly growing spaceWhat challenges they face in developing a global data standardHow they’re thinking about future open vehicle protocols, including ridehailing and car share.In the meantime, be sure to check out Horace’s upcoming keynote“Micromobility’s Moment” on the 10th of September at 12-1pm EST. It’s goingto be amazing - an instant classic, with thundering narrative arcs backedup with detailed data about the State of the Micromobility World not justboth before and after COVID, but in the wider context of our transportsystems and a better world. Tickets are $20, and you can register here.

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