MTA Bus Routes: Polyline Geometries and Schedule Metadata for New York City

Polyline geometries and metadata for distinct bus route shapes by route and direction across schedule bundles. The dataset includes columns for route identifiers, direction, validity dates, and spatial extents. It is provided by data.ny.gov and was last updated on 2026-04-01 02:52:46.

Use Cases

• Visualizing bus route networks on a map using the Geometry and Vertices columns.
• Analyzing the spatial coverage of routes by calculating bounding boxes from the Min/Max Longitude and Latitude columns.
• Filtering for active schedules by querying the In Effect, Valid From, and Valid To columns.
• Classifying route types (e.g., express vs. local) for service analysis using the Route Type and Route Description columns.

Strengths

• Includes detailed geospatial data via the Geometry and Vertices columns for mapping applications.
• Contains temporal validity metadata (Valid From, Valid To, In Effect) for schedule-aware analysis.
• Provides multiple identifiers (Route ID, Shape ID, Route Short/Long Name) for cross-referencing with other transit datasets.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

data.ny.gov

Collection Method

Likely extracted from official MTA schedule bundles and transit databases.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-01 02:52:46; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New York City, based on platform tags and organization.