GTFS currently defines a number of route types that can be used to describe the type of service for a particular route (eg. bus vs rail vs ferry) via the route_type column in the routes.txt file. To support a more rich set of types, an extension has been proposed to allow specifying route types using Hierarchical Vehicle Type (HVT) codes from the European TPEG standard. For more information, see the original discussion.

The following table outlines the proposed route types. Not all route types are supported by Google Maps. Support types are specifically noted. If you are interested in using an unsupported route type in your feed, please contact Google and let us know.

Code Description Support Examples
100 Railway Service Yes
101 High Speed Rail Service Yes TGV (FR), ICE (DE), Eurostar (GB)
102 Long Distance Trains Yes InterCity/EuroCity
103 Inter Regional Rail Service Yes InterRegio (DE), Cross County Rail (GB)
104 Car Transport Rail Service
105 Sleeper Rail Service Yes GNER Sleeper (GB)
106 Regional Rail Service Yes TER (FR), Regionalzug (DE)
107 Tourist Railway Service Yes Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch (GB)
108 Rail Shuttle (Within Complex) Yes Gatwick Shuttle (GB), Sky Line (DE)
109 Suburban Railway Yes S-Bahn (DE), RER (FR), S-tog (Kopenhagen)
110 Replacement Rail Service
111 Special Rail Service
112 Lorry Transport Rail Service
113 All Rail Services
114 Cross-Country Rail Service
115 Vehicle Transport Rail Service
116 Rack and Pinion Railway Rochers de Naye (CH), Dolderbahn (CH)
117 Additional Rail Service
200 Coach Service Yes
201 International Coach Service Yes EuroLine, Touring
202 National Coach Service Yes National Express (GB)
203 Shuttle Coach Service Roissy Bus (FR), Reading-Heathrow (GB)
204 Regional Coach Service Yes
205 Special Coach Service
206 Sightseeing Coach Service
207 Tourist Coach Service
208 Commuter Coach Service
209 All Coach Services
400 Urban Railway Service Yes
401 Metro Service Yes Métro de Paris
402 Underground Service Yes London Underground, U-Bahn
403 Urban Railway Service Yes
404 All Urban Railway Services
405 Monorail Yes
700 Bus Service Yes
701 Regional Bus Service Yes Eastbourne-Maidstone (GB)
702 Express Bus Service Yes X19 Wokingham-Heathrow (GB)
703 Stopping Bus Service 38 London: Clapton Pond-Victoria (GB)
704 Local Bus Service Yes
705 Night Bus Service N prefixed buses in London (GB)
706 Post Bus Service Maidstone P4 (GB)
707 Special Needs Bus
708 Mobility Bus Service
709 Mobility Bus for Registered Disabled
710 Sightseeing Bus
711 Shuttle Bus 747 Heathrow-Gatwick Airport Service (GB)
712 School Bus
713 School and Public Service Bus
714 Rail Replacement Bus Service
715 Demand and Response Bus Service Yes
716 All Bus Services
717 Share Taxi Service Yes Marshrutka (RU), dolmuş (TR)
800 Trolleybus Service Yes
900 Tram Service Yes
901 City Tram Service
902 Local Tram Service Munich (DE), Brussels (BE), Croydon (GB)
903 Regional Tram Service
904 Sightseeing Tram Service Blackpool Seafront (GB)
905 Shuttle Tram Service
906 All Tram Services
907 Cable Tram Yes Cable car (San Francisco, US)
1000 Water Transport Service Yes
1100 Air Service
1200 Ferry Service Yes Please use 1000
1300 Aerial Lift Service Yes Telefèric de Montjuïc (ES), Saleve (CH), Roosevelt Island Tramway (US)
1400 Funicular Service Yes Rigiblick (Zürich, CH)
1500 Taxi Service
1501 Communal Taxi Service Yes Please use 717
1502 Water Taxi Service
1503 Rail Taxi Service
1504 Bike Taxi Service
1505 Licensed Taxi Service
1506 Private Hire Service Vehicle
1507 All Taxi Services
1700 Miscellaneous Service Yes