OData your Transit (Think CommuterAPI OData'ified)

Public Transit Data Community (http://www.commuterapi.com/)

Public Transit Data Community has a goal to combine all the disparate transit data feeds from the agencies around the United State into normalized format and expose them as OData Service API to allow developers to build any type of applications around the data.
This community benefits:

• Transit Authority Agencies helping them expose their transit data to the public to facilitate the development of new cool mobile, web and desktop applications for their riders
• Developers to build applications on a top of the OData API that works for any agency within the community
• Riders who will have an access to applications which enrich the public transportation experience

The Microsoft Azure Cloud is the platform for this community and provides us scalability and 24/7 availability. The data is stored in a SQL Azure database.

In the first release we have the following features set:

• Data Feeds (see details)
  • WMATA static and real-time data
  • ART - static data
  • DC Circulator - static data and real-time data
• Public Transit Data Community API v1.0
  • Bus and Train Arrival Predictions
  • Stops and Stations
  • Entrances
  • Routes and Train Lines
  • Incidents
  • Intelligent Routing

..."

For Developers

This looks like a pretty cool idea and start. If you're in one of the listed metro serviced areas then it might even be cooler. I dig the idea of a central clearing house for transit data, and being OData makes it rock. Being OData means you pretty easily query and build apps, mobile, desktop, WinOS or not.

(via Heavily Caffeinated - OData Apps In LightSwitch, Part 2)