mobdb_search: Search for feeds across the Mobility Database

In mobdb: Access the 'Mobility Database' API to Discover Transit Feeds

Search for feeds across the Mobility Database

Description

Perform a text search across feed names, providers, and locations.

Note: Search is performed on English words and is case insensitive. Word order is not relevant for matching. For example ⁠New York City Transit⁠ will be parsed as new & york & city & transit

The endpoint used has known issues with relevance ranking. For better results when searching by provider name, consider using feeds() with the provider parameter.

Usage

mobdb_search(
  query,
  feed_id = NULL,
  data_type = NULL,
  official = NULL,
  status = NULL,
  gtfs_feature = NULL,
  gbfs_version = NULL,
  limit = 50,
  offset = 0,
  use_cache = TRUE
)

Arguments

query	A string. Search query string. Searches across provider names, feed names, and locations.
feed_id	A string. The unique identifier for the feed (e.g. "mdb-696", "mdb-1707", "gbfs-lime_vancouver_bc"). When provided, searches only for this specific feed and all other filter parameters must be omitted.
data_type	A string. Optional filter by data type: "gtfs", "gtfs_rt", or "gbfs".
official	A logical. If TRUE, only return official feeds when searching by provider/location. If FALSE, only return unofficial feeds. If NULL (default), return all feeds regardless of official status.
status	A string. Feed status filter: "active", "deprecated", "inactive", "development", or "future".
gtfs_feature	A character vector. Filter feeds by their GTFS features. Only valid for GTFS Schedule feeds. GTFS features definitions are defined here.
gbfs_version	A character vector. Comma-separated list of GBFS versions to filter by. Only valid for GBFS feeds. GBFS version notes are defined here
limit	An integer. Maximum number of results (default: 50).
offset	An integer. Number of results to skip for pagination (default: 0).
use_cache	A logical. If TRUE (default), use cached results if available. If FALSE, always fetch fresh data from the API. Cached data expires after 1 hour.

Value

A tibble of matching feeds. Note that search results include additional fields compared to feeds():

• locations - List of data frames with geographical information

• latest_dataset - Data frame with most recent dataset details and validation

• Core fields (id, provider, data_type, status, source_info) are the same

Examples

# Search for transit agencies (Note: results may not be well-ranked)
results <- mobdb_search("transit")

# Better approach: use feeds() with provider filter
bart <- feeds(provider = "BART")
mta <- feeds(provider = "MTA New York")

# Search with filters
gtfs_feeds <- mobdb_search(
  "transit",
  data_type = "gtfs",
  official = TRUE
)

# Search with pagination
first_50 <- mobdb_search("train", limit = 50, offset = 0)
next_50 <- mobdb_search("train", limit = 50, offset = 50)

# Search for official GTFS feeds only
official_feeds <- mobdb_search("metro", official = TRUE, data_type = "gtfs")

# Note: For location-specific searches (state/province/city), use feeds() instead:
ontario_transit <- feeds(
  provider = "transit",
  country_code = "CA",
  subdivision_name = "Ontario",
  data_type = "gtfs"
)

mobdb documentation built on Aug. 29, 2026, 1:07 a.m.