Coming soon: changes to route_desc values in GTFS-Static

We’re writing to inform you of important (potentially breaking) changes to the route_desc field in our GTFS-Static feed, which categorizes a route's level of service. For example, this field can indicate whether a bus service operates frequently throughout the day, serves weekday commuters, or supplements other routes.

As part of proposed revisions to the MBTA’s Service Delivery Policy , these changes will take effect as part of the Winter schedule changes.

We will publish these changes in our GTFS-static data the week of December 2, 2024, in a deploy that contains our Winter 2025 schedules (effective December 15).

What’s Changing?

The following route_desc values will be removed:

• "Commuter Rail"
• "Community Bus"
• "Key Bus"

They will be replaced with updated terminology:

• Commuter Rail → "Regional Rail"
• Key Bus → "Frequent Bus"
• Community Bus → "Coverage Bus"

Updated list:

(Based on current list available in GTFS static documentation )

• Regional Rail[formerly Commuter Rail]
• Rapid Transit
• Local Bus
• Frequent Bus[formerly Key Bus]
• Supplemental Bus
• Coverage Bus[formerly Community Bus]
• Commuter Bus
• Ferry
• Rail Replacement Bus

Please review this information carefully to ensure your applications are ready to adapt to these changes.

As a reminder, developers can track our GitHub-based GTFS documentation , which will be updated to reflect this and all future changes.

If you have any questions or require further assistance, feel free to reach out.