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https://github.com/boneill02/mbta-rss

An unofficial program that converts alert feeds for public transit in Greater Boston to RSS
https://github.com/boneill02/mbta-rss

cron filter html mbta mbta-api rss rss-feed transit

Last synced: 14 days ago
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An unofficial program that converts alert feeds for public transit in Greater Boston to RSS

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README 

        
# mbta2rss



This software utilizes the [MBTA API](https://www.mbta.com/developers/v3-api)

to grab alerts and stop lists for public transit routes in Greater

Boston. [Demo](https://benoneill.xyz/demos/mbta-rss).



## Features (check means implemented)



- [X] Generate an RSS feed containing alerts, neatly formatted.

- [X] Only include certain routes.

- [X] Allow the user to use an API key.

- [X] Export alerts to Markdown.

- [X] Only include alerts active at a certain time.

- [X] Convert stop lists to Markdown format.

- [ ] Convert route schedules to CSV and Markdown format.

- [ ] Export alerts and stop lists to CSV.



## Dependencies



* requests (`pip install requests`)



## Installation



Run the following as root:



	make install



## Usage



### Basics



Run `mbta2rss >out.xml`. Then you can open the XML file in your

favorite RSS feed reader. An API key can be placed in the

environment variable `$APIKEY`. You can request one

[here](https://api-v3.mbta.com/).



### Options



* `-d datatype`: choose type of data to grab (alerts or stops, default is alerts)

* `-o fmt`: Set output format (rss or md, default is rss).

* `-r routes`: Set route(s) to look for (comma separated)

* `-t time`: Set time filter to show alerts active at that time

  (default shows all times, "NOW" for alerts in effect now, must be in

  ISO 8601 time format).

* `-T title`: document/feed title

* `-D description`: document/feed description

* `-U url`: upstream URL for RSS feed



### Use Cases



* Set up a cron job to update alerts feed every hour or so.

* Email alerts to you (for the route(s) you take or all routes).

* Post alerts on a webpage.

* View alerts in a RSS feed reader.



### Cron-based Alert Updater



Add the following to your crontab:



	0 * * * * APIKEY="$MYAPIKEY" /usr/bin/mbta2rss >$HOSTDIR/rss.xml



### Emailing Digests



An example of emailing a Markdown-formatted digest using the `headmail` filter

script and `sendmail`:



	APIKEY="$MYAPIKEY" mbta2rss -o md -r "Red,Green-E,66" -t "NOW" | headmail "$FROM" "$TO" | \

		sendmail -a "$ACCOUNT" -t "$TO"



If you wanted to convert it to HTML first, a Markdown to HTML filter must be

used (like [smu](https://github.com/Gottox/smu):



	APIKEY="$MYAPIKEY" mbta2rss -o md -r "Red,Green-E,66" -t "NOW" | smu | headmail "$FROM" "$TO" | \

		sendmail -a "$MSMTPACCOUNT" -t "$TO"



### Publishing Alerts

	

It is possible to make a HTML webpage (no CSS included by default) for the web

using the Markdown output format and piping it into a Markdown to HTML filter.

A live demo of this is available [here](https://benoneill.xyz/demos/mbta-rss/).



	APIKEY="$MYAPIKEY" mbta2rss -o md | smu >out.html



## Important Notes



1. Without an API key, you are limited to 20 calls per minute.

2. If you publish anything containing content related to this, make sure it is

   clear this is unofficial and not officially affiliated with the MBTA. They

   have a [license agreement](https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/10/27/develop_license_agree_0.pdf).

3. Green Line routes are differenciated like so: "Green-B", "Green-C", "Green-D", "Green-E"



## Bugs



No known bugs. If one is found, submit an issue, PR, or email me with

a description and/or patch.



## Contributing



Please feel free to contribute. Send patches via email or submit a pull request.



## License



Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Ben O'Neill . License: MIT.

See LICENSE for more details.