OSM Opening Hours + Station Hours

[mplsmitch]

What is the issue and why is it an issue?

Just after the release of V1.0 there was a proposal to abandon the proprietary format used by GBFS to describe hours and dates in favor of using the OpenStreetMap Opening Hours format. Discussion of this can be found in issue #6 .

The current method of describing hours and dates of operation does not support setting hours at individual locations within a system. In addition, the current method of describing hours of operation does not support calendar exemptions or holidays. These could all be accomplished by switching to the OSM Opening Hours format.

Example:
The OV-Fiets ( NL) bike sharing service sets different hours of service per station. While this is a relatively uncommon practice in bike sharing, there are other common use cases like car share that are analogous. Discussion of this can be found in issue #98.

I have a proposal in this document to replace the system_hours.json and system_calendar.json endpoints with single fields in system_information.json and station_information.json respectively, using the OSM Opening Hours format. This proposal would allow setting hours and dates of service at both the system level and station level as well as support calendar exceptions and holidays. The OSM Opening Hours format is more complex than the proprietary GBFS formats currently in use but in most cases only a small part of the OSM definition is needed to describe hours and dates of operation. There are also a number of code libraries and resources available to support the OSM Opening Hours format.

We would like to get feedback on this proposal, either by commenting on the document , or on this issue , particularly from anyone with prior experience working the the OSM format.

Please describe some potential solutions you have considered (even if they aren’t related to GBFS).

I've looked at expanding on the current formats for dates and hours of operation by extending the system_hours.json station_information.json and system_calendar.json to fill this gap. Supporting hours of operation at individual stations is relatively straight forward but the JSON required is much bulkier than using OSM. I have not tried to model calendar exceptions or holidays which would require further extensions to the system_dates.json endpoint.

Is your potential solution a breaking change?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure

[mplsmitch]

This issue has been moved to PR #328 - please follow along there and watch for an upcoming vote on the proposal.