Generate transit station proximity features

[therriault]

The MBTA has a comprehensive GTFS feed available at:

http://realtime.mbta.com/Portal/Content/Documents/MBTA_GTFS_Documentation.html

Could be useful to generate a variety of useful features for each segment:

• whether there's a bus stop on the segment
• whether the segment is on one or more bus routes
• whether there's a subway station on the segment
• distance to nearest bus stop
• distance to nearest subway station

The thinking here is both to capture actual vehicle activity (buses stopping or driving by) that may affect crash likelihood as well as to serve as indicators of pedestrian activity (since there will be more of that in places close to traffic).

Also note that because the GTFS standard is a common one, this same tool could be readily ported over to other cities by just swapping the feed source, so this task would be a useful one beyond just for Boston.

[tjboller]

Hey @therriault. Is anyone working on this? If not I would like to volunteer.

FYI - I am new to D4D, this project, and open source projects.

[andhint]

@tjboller this issue is currently up for grabs. You can message me in slack if you have any questions. We also have a group call on Wednesdays were discuss the project