Freestyle Web Solutions built Commute.org a custom WordPress tool that converts GTFS transit data into schedule pages for 21 shuttle routes — replacing an expiring paid vendor license with software the agency’s own staff run themselves.
Who is Commute.org?
Commute.org is San Mateo County’s Transportation Demand Management agency, running 21 commuter shuttle routes and a countywide suite of commuter programs. Like a lot of public agencies, their operations run on a small team, decades of institutional knowledge, and some very hard-working spreadsheets. We’ve been their web partner for 15 years — and over the last year, the engagement has evolved from maintaining their website to automating the work behind it.
How do you replace a transit data vendor with your own tool?
Commute.org’s shuttle schedules depended on a commercial vendor license to convert GTFS transit data into web-ready schedule pages. The license was expiring, and renewal meant continuing to pay for a black box their team couldn’t control.
We built a custom WordPress plugin that does the conversion in-house. Staff upload a GTFS feed — from any vendor — and the tool generates accurate AM/PM schedule pages for all 21 routes. It was designed for the person who actually runs it: upload, review, publish. No developer required.
The tool shipped before the license expired, survived a mid-migration vendor change without code changes, and now costs the agency nothing per year.
What comes after the first automation win?
The success of the schedule tool expanded the engagement into a broader automation program: an audience-first redesign of the site’s information architecture, live operations dashboards that surface 15 years of shuttle performance data currently trapped in workbooks, automated funder reporting, and an institutional knowledge capture initiative so agency expertise stays accessible as the team evolves.
Freestyle Web Solutions is an AI consulting and automation practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. We build workflow automation, AI agents, data dashboards, and websites for organizations that have outgrown their manual processes.
Commute.org study FAQ’s
Agencies usually face a renewal bill for software they can’t control. Commute.org took a different path: we built them a custom WordPress tool that converts GTFS data into schedule pages in-house. It works with any GTFS source, has no recurring license cost, and their staff run it without a developer.
Yes — if the tool is designed for them from the start. Commute.org’s schedule tool is operated entirely by agency staff: upload a GTFS feed, review the generated schedules, publish. We build interfaces for the person who does the job, not the person who built the system.
It starts with the work that eats staff time: schedule publishing, quarterly reporting, performance data trapped in spreadsheets. For Commute.org, we automated schedule generation first, and are now building operations dashboards, automated funder reporting, and institutional knowledge capture — each one replacing hours of manual work with a tool the team owns.
