Applying the LOT Methodology to a Public Bus Transport Ontology aligned with Transmodel: Challenges and Results

Edna Ruckhaus,Adolfo Anton-Bravo,Oscar Corcho,Mario Scrocca

doi:10.3233/sw-210451

Edna Ruckhaus, Adolfo Anton-Bravo + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3233/sw-210451

Copy DOI

Abstract

We present an ontology that describes the domain of Public Transport by bus, which is common in cities around the world. This ontology is aligned to Transmodel, a reference model which is available as a UML specification and which was developed to foster interoperability of data about transport systems across Europe. The alignment with this non-ontological resource required the adaptation of the Linked Open Terms (LOT) methodology, which has been used by our team as the methodological framework for the development of many ontologies used for the publication of open city data. The ontology is structured into three main modules: (1) agencies, operators and the lines that they manage, (2) lines, routes, stops and journey patterns, and (3) planned vehicle journeys with their timetables and service calendars. Besides reusing Transmodel concepts, the ontology also reuses common ontology design patterns from GeoSPARQL and the SOSA ontology. As part of the LOT data-driven validation stage, RDF data has been generated taking as input the GTFS feeds (General Transit Feed Specification) provided by the Madrid public bus transport provider (EMT). Mapping rules from structured data sources to RDF were developed using the RDF Mapping Language (RML) to generate RDF data, and queries corresponding to competency questions were tested.

Highlights

Open data initiatives across public administrations worldwide date back to more than a decade ago
For the Public Bus Transport ontology, we developed an initial conceptual model without reuse of Transmodel, which satisfied the requirements identified in the first stage of the methodology
D In this work we have presented an ontology for the representation of data about public buses operating in cities

Summary

Introduction

Open data initiatives across public administrations worldwide date back to more than a decade ago. E. Ruckhaus et al / Applying the LOT Methodology to a Public Bus Transport Ontology aligned with Transmodel. Domains that have been addressed in these initiatives include public sector, demography, environment, economy, commerce, transport and treasury, among others. As part of the initiatives and projects that have led the advancement of open data among cities in Spain we can cite the Ciudades Abiertas project, a public-private collaborative project led by four Spanish municipalities (Zaragoza, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña) with the general aim to facilitate the implementation of common Open Government policies that are reusable by many other municipalities inside and outside Spain. Among the project actions on open data, several (12) ontologies are being developed using the Linked Open

Objectives

Results

Conclusion