py-nymta 0.1.1

Python library for accessing MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) real-time transit data for NYC

py-nymta

Python library for accessing MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) real-time transit data for NYC.

Features

• Simple, clean API for accessing MTA subway real-time arrival data
• Support for all MTA subway lines
• Compatible with protobuf 6.x
• Type hints for better IDE support
• Extensible design for future bus API support

Installation

pip install py-nymta

Usage

Basic Example

from pymta import SubwayFeed

# Create a feed for the N/Q/R/W lines
feed = SubwayFeed(feed_id="N")

# Get the next 3 arrivals for the Q line at station B08S (southbound)
arrivals = feed.get_arrivals(route_id="Q", stop_id="B08S")

for arrival in arrivals:
    print(f"Route {arrival.route_id} to {arrival.destination}")
    print(f"  Arrives at: {arrival.arrival_time}")
    print(f"  Stop ID: {arrival.stop_id}")

Finding the Feed ID for a Route

from pymta import SubwayFeed

# Get the feed ID for a specific route
feed_id = SubwayFeed.get_feed_id_for_route("Q")
print(f"The Q line is in feed: {feed_id}")  # Output: N

# Create a feed using the discovered feed_id
feed = SubwayFeed(feed_id=feed_id)

Custom Timeout and Max Arrivals

from pymta import SubwayFeed

# Create a feed with custom timeout
feed = SubwayFeed(feed_id="1", timeout=60)

# Get up to 5 arrivals instead of the default 3
arrivals = feed.get_arrivals(
    route_id="1",
    stop_id="127N",  # Times Square - 42 St (northbound)
    max_arrivals=5
)

Error Handling

from pymta import SubwayFeed, MTAFeedError

feed = SubwayFeed(feed_id="A")

try:
    arrivals = feed.get_arrivals(route_id="A", stop_id="A42N")
except MTAFeedError as e:
    print(f"Error fetching arrivals: {e}")

Station IDs and Directions

MTA station IDs include a direction suffix:

• N suffix: Northbound/Uptown direction
• S suffix: Southbound/Downtown direction

For example:

• 127N: Times Square - 42 St (northbound)
• 127S: Times Square - 42 St (southbound)
• B08N: DeKalb Av (northbound)
• B08S: DeKalb Av (southbound)

Note: These are MTA designations and don't always correspond to geographic north/south.

Feed IDs

The MTA groups subway lines into feeds:

Feed ID	Lines
1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, GS
A	A, C, E, H, FS
N	N, Q, R, W
B	B, D, F, M
L	L
SI	SIR (Staten Island Railway)
G	G
J	J, Z
7	7, 7X

API Reference

SubwayFeed

Main class for accessing subway GTFS-RT feeds.

__init__(feed_id: str, timeout: int = 30)

Initialize the subway feed.

Parameters:

• feed_id: The feed ID (e.g., '1', 'A', 'N', 'B', 'L', 'SI', 'G', 'J', '7')
• timeout: Request timeout in seconds (default: 30)

Raises:

• ValueError: If feed_id is not valid

get_arrivals(route_id: str, stop_id: str, max_arrivals: int = 3) -> list[Arrival]

Get upcoming train arrivals for a specific route and stop.

Parameters:

• route_id: The route/line ID (e.g., '1', 'A', 'Q')
• stop_id: The stop ID including direction (e.g., '127N', 'B08S')
• max_arrivals: Maximum number of arrivals to return (default: 3)

Returns:

• List of Arrival objects sorted by arrival time

Raises:

• MTAFeedError: If feed cannot be fetched or parsed

get_feed_id_for_route(route_id: str) -> str (static method)

Get the feed ID for a given route.

Parameters:

• route_id: The route/line ID (e.g., '1', 'A', 'Q')

Returns:

• The feed ID for the route

Raises:

• ValueError: If route_id is not valid

Arrival

Dataclass representing a single train arrival.

Attributes:

• arrival_time (datetime): The datetime when the train will arrive (UTC)
• route_id (str): The route/line ID (e.g., '1', 'A', 'Q')
• stop_id (str): The stop ID including direction (e.g., '127N', 'B08S')
• destination (str): The trip headsign/destination

Exceptions

• MTAError: Base exception for the library
• MTAFeedError: Raised when feed cannot be fetched or parsed

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/OnFreund/py-nymta.git
cd py-nymta
pip install -e .

Running Tests

pytest

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Credits

This library uses the official GTFS-RT protocol buffers from Google's gtfs-realtime-bindings package.

MTA data is provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.