OneBusAway

What OneBusAway does

OneBusAway is an open source real-time transit information platform operated by the Open Transit Software Foundation (OTSF), a U.S. nonprofit foundation established in 2008 and headquartered in Seattle. The platform aggregates GTFS static schedule data and GTFS-realtime feeds (trip updates, vehicle positions, and alerts) and additionally supports SIRI ingestion, processing them through a Java-based back end into an optimized transit data bundle. It exposes this data via a REST API (with official SDKs in Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript/Node.js, Python, and Ruby) and through iOS and Android apps, a web platform (standard, mobile-optimized, and text-only), SMS, an Asterisk-based phone IVR, and a Sign Mode for public arrival displays. Privacy is built into the architecture (no PII collection, no passenger data resale) and the platform is Section 508 accessible.

The platform's primary customers are public transit agencies (including San Diego MTS, MTA, and the Puget Sound region), with transit riders as the downstream end-users of the mobile apps, web, SMS, and signage interfaces. Go-to-market is community-led and API-first: the software is distributed as open source via GitHub, Docker Hub, and prebuilt binaries, while OBACloud (onebusawaycloud.com) offers a fully managed hosting alternative for agencies that prefer not to self-host. The organization is entirely volunteer-run (1-10 headcount, no paid staff), and operating revenue is sourced from donations, a voluntary licensing fee paid by supporting agencies, and undisclosed OBACloud managed-service fees. Named case-study outcomes include San Diego MTS sustaining over 300,000 requests per day on a single self-hosted Windows server, and partnerships such as ossvolunteers.com sustain the volunteer contributor pipeline.

Name

OneBusAway

Legal name

Open Transit Software Foundation

Website

https://onebusaway.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

OneBusAway is an all-volunteer, open source transit information platform operated by the Open Transit Software Foundation that helps public transit agencies deliver real-time arrivals, alerts, and vehicle locations to riders via mobile apps, web, SMS, phone IVR, and signage.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Voluntary Licensing: The all-volunteer Open Transit Software Foundation relies on donations to fund future development work on the apps. A voluntary licensing fee is available for agencies that want to support sustainable development.
2. OBACloud Managed Services: OBACloud is a fully managed version of OneBusAway that handles hosting, updates, and maintenance for transit agencies. This commercial service provides a hassle-free alternative to self-hosting.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OneBusAway is an open source platform that aggregates GTFS, GTFS-realtime, and SIRI data to deliver real-time vehicle locations, arrival predictions, and service alerts to transit riders. It packages this functionality into iOS and Android apps, a web platform, a REST API, SMS, phone (IVR), and public signage, with OBACloud offered as a managed hosting service. The software is maintained by the Open Transit Software Foundation and is available to transit agencies either through self-hosting or via the managed OBACloud service.

Product overview

OneBusAway is a comprehensive open-source transit information platform managed by the Open Transit Software Foundation. The platform consists of a core application suite enabling transit agencies to provide real-time vehicle locations, service alerts, and arrival information to riders. The portfolio includes mobile apps for iOS and Android, a web platform with standard and mobile-optimized interfaces, a REST API (with official SDKs in Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, Python, and Ruby), SMS and phone (IVR) services, and a Sign Mode for public displays. OBACloud offers a managed hosting alternative for agencies preferring not to self-host. Supporting infrastructure includes the Transit Data Federation Builder for processing GTFS data and official Docker images for deployment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OBACloud: A hassle-free, fully managed version of OneBusAway that delivers real-time transit information to riders without the technical complexity. The team handles hosting, updates, and maintenance.

Products and services

• OneBusAway Application Suite Suite of open source transit information tools that enable transit agencies to provide real-time vehicle locations, alerts, and arrival information to riders; powers iOS and Android apps, web platform, APIs, and back office support.
• OneBusAway Mobile Apps Native iOS and Android applications for riders to access real-time transit information including vehicle locations, arrivals, and service alerts on mobile devices.
• OneBusAway Web Web-based platform with standard, mobile-optimized, and text-only interfaces to transit data including maps, stop pages with real-time information, and full schedules.
• OneBusAway REST API RESTful web service API that powers OneBusAway applications and allows developers to build custom applications on top of transit data; supports JSON and XML outputs with API key access control.
• OBACloud Fully managed version of OneBusAway that handles hosting, updates, and maintenance for transit agencies, delivering real-time transit information without the technical complexity of self-hosting.
• OneBusAway Phone (IVR) Interactive Voice Response phone application that lets riders query real-time transit information by entering a stop code; integrates with Asterisk telephony via the FastAGI protocol.
• OneBusAway SMS SMS service that lets riders text a stop code to receive real-time transit arrival information, with bookmarking support for frequently accessed stops.
• OneBusAway Sign Mode Display mode optimized for large public screens showing real-time arrival information at transit stations, with configurable parameters for title display, route filtering, and automatic page refresh.
• OneBusAway SDKs Official SDKs for the REST API in Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript/Node.js, Python, and Ruby, built using StainlessAPI from an OpenAPI specification, enabling developers to integrate OneBusAway data into custom applications.
• OneBusAway Docker Image Official Docker image for deploying the OneBusAway API web application, with built images published on Docker Hub and source available on GitHub to accelerate self-hosting by agencies.
• OneBusAway Search API Search API that became available in release 2.2.2 (2023), enabling autocomplete controls for stop and route searches in OneBusAway applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• San Diego MTS handles over 300,000 requests per day on a single Windows server

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ossvolunteers.comcoreOthersPartnership with ossvolunteers.com for recruiting volunteer contributors in engineering, product, UX, and sales roles. This volunteer platform helps sustain the all-volunteer organization.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cubic Transportation Systems: Cubic is a major incumbent in transit fare collection, real-time passenger information, and traffic management. It sells proprietary end-to-end systems (e.g., Umo, NextAgent) that overlap with OneBusAway's functionality as part of a broader transit tech portfolio sold to large agencies.
• Trapeze Group (Modaxo): Trapeze (part of Modaxo) provides transit scheduling, planning, CAD/AVL, and passenger information systems to transit agencies worldwide. It is an established incumbent offering comparable rider-facing real-time info capabilities bundled with broader transit operations software.
• Google Maps Transit: Google Maps integrates GTFS-realtime data from transit agencies to provide real-time transit information and trip planning to a global user base. It is a broad incumbent rider-facing channel that competes for end-rider attention with OneBusAway's own consumer apps.

Direct peers

• Optibus: Optibus provides AI-driven transit operations and planning software for agencies, including real-time service adjustment and rider-facing information. It overlaps with OneBusAway in serving transit-agency digital infrastructure and increasingly in real-time passenger information features.
• Remix by Via: Remix (acquired by Via) provides transit planning software for agencies, including stop consolidation, route design, and increasingly real-time operations tooling. It is a comparable transit-agency software platform, though weighted toward planning rather than rider-facing real-time info.
• Swiftly: Swiftly is a SaaS transit data platform that helps agencies ingest GTFS-realtime, surface accurate arrival predictions, and deliver real-time rider information. It directly competes with OneBusAway's core function of turning agency CAD/AVL feeds into real-time rider info, but with a paid, venture-backed commercial model.
• Citymapper: Citymapper offers a multimodal real-time transit information app covering buses, rail, and micromobility in major cities. It is a comparable consumer transit-info product to OneBusAway's mobile/web apps but extends into multi-modal routing.
• Moovit: Moovit (acquired by Intel) operates a global real-time transit information app and platform serving both riders and agencies. It directly competes with OneBusAway's rider-facing real-time arrival and trip-planning functionality, though with a much broader commercial scale.
• Transit App: Transit App is a consumer-facing real-time transit app aggregating GTFS and GTFS-realtime data from thousands of agencies. It competes most directly with OneBusAway's iOS/Android rider apps and is the closest consumer-side peer.

Emerging players

• Spare (formerly Pantonium): Spare provides a transit and microtransit platform for agencies, including real-time passenger information, trip booking, and on-demand transit operations. It overlaps with OneBusAway's rider-facing real-time info mission but focuses more heavily on-demand and paratransit use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/OneBusAway
• Xx.com/onebusaway
• Facebookfacebook.com/OneBusAway
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/onebusaway

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OneBusAway