## Conclusion

Thanks for reading *The Definitive Guide to GTFS-realtime*. I wrote this
book with the intention of providing a comprehensive guide to getting
started with consuming real-time data using the GTFS-realtime
specification.

One of the biggest advantages GTFS-realtime has over other real-time
specifications or services (such NextBus or SIRI) is that it is designed
to complement GTFS feeds by sharing a common set of identifiers.

On one hand, GTFS-realtime is very straightforward, as it provides only
three different types of messages (service alerts, vehicle positions and
trip updates), but there are a number of complexities involved in
getting started with both consuming and producing GTFS-realtime feeds,
such as setting up Protocol Buffers to read feeds, or understanding the
intent of trip updates.

The key takeaways from this book are:

* The different types of real-time data available in GTFS-realtime feeds.
* How to read data from a GTFS-realtime feed.
* How to apply the data you read from GTFS-realtime feeds to your own applications.
* They main concepts behind producing and publishing your own GTFS-realtime feeds.

If you have enjoyed this book, please share it or feel free to contribution improvements or changes as necessary.

*Quentin Zervaas*
August, 2015