This glossary defines key terms used in the Transport Partner Integration documentation.
Booking Token: An optional, partner-generated string that can be passed in the ticketing deep link to help maintain price and itinerary consistency between Google's search results and the partner's booking page.
Canonical JSON Mapping: A specific set of rules defined by Protocol Buffers for converting a proto message to a JSON object. This integration requires using this mapping with specific options so that requests and responses are correctly formatted.
GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification): A standard data format that public transportation agencies use to provide schedule, route, and fare information to riders. In this integration, it's one of the two ways to provide static data to Google.
GTFS-based integration: An integration method for partners who provide their own schedule data to Google in a GTFS feed. This is used when Google does not already have the operator's schedules.
known_itineraries: An option in the Partner Configuration that allows
partners to receive a list of known itineraries from Google to optimize their
response.
Market Set: (For Stop-only integration) An optional feed provided by the partner to define a specific list of origin-destination pairs (markets) for which they will provide pricing. If provided, it acts as an allowlist.
Partner API / Partner Server API: The set of APIs that partners must implement to provide Google with dynamic data, such as real-time pricing and availability.
Price Quality Testing: The ongoing process where Google's crawlers sample itineraries on the partner's website to verify that the prices shown to users match the prices provided through the Partner API.
QPS (Queries Per Second): The average rate at which Google sends requests (one query is one request) to the Partner API server. This rate may fluctuate, with periods of slightly higher or lower traffic.
SegmentKey: An object used in the Partner API to uniquely identify a single leg of a journey, including origin, destination, and service dates/times.
service_date: The specific date on which a transit service operates,
formatted as YYYYMMDD. It's used in combination with other identifiers to
specify a unique trip instance.
Stop-only integration: An integration method for partners who are not the source of the schedule data. This is used when Google already receives the operator's schedules from another source. Partners only need to provide a list of their stop IDs.
ticketing_stop_id: The partner's unique identifier for a stop or station.
This ID is provided in the static data feed (either GTFS or Stop-only) and is
used in the Partner API and ticketing deep links.
ticketing_trip_id: (For GTFS-based integration) The partner's unique
identifier for a specific trip, provided in the trips.txt file of their GTFS
feed. GTFS-based integrations only.
Ticketing Deep Link: A URL that directs a user from Google's search results to the partner's website to book a specific itinerary. The URL contains encoded details about the selected trip.
TripOptionsErrorType: A specific set of error types that can be returned
in the Partner API to provide more detailed information about why a request
failed.
UNSPECIFIED Enum Value: The required first value (with a numeric value of
0) in any enum definition when using Protocol Buffers. It serves as the default
value and should generally be treated as an error if received in a request.