GTFS-realtime supports three distinct types of realtime data. Even though the gtfs-realtime.proto syntax allows multiple entity types to be mixed for a feed, only one type of entity can be used in a particular feed. Summaries are given below, with full documentation given in the relevant section.
Trip Updates
"Bus X is delayed by 5 minutes"
Trip updates represent fluctuations in the timetable. We would expect to receive trip updates for all trips you have scheduled that are realtime-capable. These updates would give a predicted arrival or departure for stops along the route. Trip updates can also provide for more complex scenarios where trips are canceled, added to the schedule, or even re-routed.
Service Alerts
"Station Y is closed due to construction"
Service alerts represent higher level problems with a particular entity and are generally in the form of a textual description of the disruption.
They could represent problems with:
- Stations
- Lines
- The whole network
- etc.
A service alert will usually consist of some text which will describe the problem, and we also allow for URLs for more information as well as more structured information to help us understand who this service alert affects.
Vehicle Positions
"This bus is at position X at time Y"
Vehicle position represents a few basic pieces of information about a particular vehicle on the network.
Most important are the latitude and longitude the vehicle is at, but we can also use data on current speed and odometer readings from the vehicle.
More about Vehicle Position updates...
Оригинал: https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs-realtime/feed-types