Denver Transit Data Documentation
WhyLine Denver is a free analytics tool for Denver RTD public transit. Ask questions in plain English and get instant insights about bus reliability, delays, equity gaps, and service quality.
📊 Available Data & Metrics
Bus Reliability Data
Analyze on-time performance for every RTD bus route and stop:
- On-Time Percentage - How often buses arrive within the scheduled window
- Average Delay - Mean minutes late/early by route, day, and hour
- Reliability Score - 0-100 composite metric of service consistency
- Historical Trends - 90+ days of real-time GTFS data
Equity & Accessibility Metrics
Identify transit equity gaps across Denver neighborhoods:
- Vulnerability Score - Census-based measure of community disadvantage (income, age, disability, vehicle access)
- Priority Hotspots - Bus stops with high vulnerability and low reliability
- Access Gaps - Areas with poor transit service but high need
Safety & Infrastructure
- Crash Proximity - Number of traffic crashes within 250m of each bus stop
- Sidewalk Coverage - Pedestrian infrastructure near transit stops
Weather Impact Analysis
How weather conditions affect Denver bus service:
- Snow & Ice - Reliability changes during winter weather
- Precipitation Bins - Light, moderate, heavy rain/snow categories
- Temperature Effects - Service performance across temperature ranges
🔍 Example Questions You Can Ask
💡 Tip: Use the Prebuilt Questions in the app for instant examples!
| Category |
Example Question |
| Reliability |
"Which bus routes have the worst on-time performance?" |
| Equity |
"Show me bus stops in vulnerable areas with poor service" |
| Safety |
"Which stops are near the most traffic crashes?" |
| Weather |
"How does snow impact bus reliability on Route 15?" |
| Time-based |
"What's the average delay during morning rush hour?" |
🚀 How to Use WhyLine Denver
Step 1: Choose Your Engine
- DuckDB - Fast local queries on ~90 days of cached data
- BigQuery - Full historical dataset (slower but complete)
Step 2: Ask Your Question
Type a question in plain English. Our AI will generate SQL automatically. Examples:
"What are the 10 worst performing routes last month?"
"Show stops with high crash exposure in vulnerable neighborhoods"
"How does weather affect Route 15 reliability?"
Step 3: Review & Run SQL
The generated SQL is editable. Advanced users can modify queries directly. Click "Run Query" to execute.
Step 4: Analyze Results
- Interactive charts and visualizations
- Downloadable CSV datasets
- Summary statistics
📖 Data Sources
- RTD GTFS - Real-time and schedule data from Denver Regional Transportation District
- Denver Open Data - Traffic crashes, sidewalk infrastructure, city boundaries
- NOAA Weather - Daily precipitation and temperature from Denver stations
- U.S. Census ACS - Demographics, income, vehicle ownership by census tract
🛠️ Technical Details
Built with:
- dbt - Data transformation pipeline
- DuckDB & BigQuery - Dual query engines
- Streamlit - Interactive web interface
- LLM - Natural language to SQL conversion
- Google Cloud Run - Scalable deployment
View complete technical documentation →
🔗 Links & Resources
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is WhyLine Denver free to use?
Yes, completely free. No signup required.
How often is the data updated?
DuckDB cache: Updated periodically (check sidebar freshness indicator)
BigQuery: Real-time updates from RTD GTFS feeds
Can I download the data?
Yes! Every query result can be downloaded as CSV.
Who built this?
WhyLine Denver is an open-source project built by a Denver resident passionate about public transit and data transparency.