Transit MCP API Server

Transit MCP API

Real-time transit telemetry for AI agents. Ingests GTFS-Realtime feeds from 25+ transit agencies and serves normalized vehicle positions, predictions, and alerts via a REST API with x402 crypto payments (USDC on Base).

Live: transit.motioninfo.com:8400

What it does

Polls 25 GTFS-RT feeds every 15 seconds (MBTA, NYC Subway, BART, SEPTA, and more)
Normalizes vehicle positions, trip predictions, and service alerts into a single queryable database
Enriches responses with human-readable route and stop names from GTFS static data
Serves data via REST API with x402 payment protocol (USDC on Base mainnet)
SSE streaming endpoint for real-time vehicle position updates

Endpoints

Endpoint	Auth	Description
`GET /health`	Free	Health check
`GET /api/stats`	Free	Live statistics
`GET /api/feeds`	Free	Feed list and status
`GET /mcp/tools`	Free	MCP tool definitions for agent discovery
`GET /api/vehicles?lat=X&lon=Y&radius_km=Z`	x402 $0.001	Vehicles near a location
`GET /api/alerts?feed=mbta`	x402 $0.001	Service alerts
`GET /api/predictions?feed=mbta&stop=70154`	x402 $0.001	Arrival predictions
`GET /api/airports?q=back+bay`	x402 $0.001	Search stops/stations
`GET /api/stream/vehicles?lat=X&lon=Y`	Free	SSE real-time stream

Payment

Paid endpoints use the x402 protocol. When an agent hits a paid endpoint without payment, it receives HTTP 402 with a PAYMENT-REQUIRED header containing a USDC invoice on Base. The agent signs a payment authorization, re-sends the request with a PAYMENT-SIGNATURE header, and receives the data.

Price: $0.001 USDC per query
Network: Base mainnet (eip155:8453)
Free tier: 10 requests/minute without payment

Setup

python3 -m venv /opt/transit-mcp
source /opt/transit-mcp/bin/activate
pip install gtfs-realtime-bindings requests aiohttp fastapi uvicorn 'x402[fastapi,evm]'

python setup_db.py        # Create database and seed feeds
python load_static.py     # Download GTFS static data (routes, stops)
python ingest.py          # Start polling (run as daemon)
python server.py          # Start API server

Environment

Variable	Default	Description
`TRANSIT_MCP_PORT`	8400	API server port
`X402_PAY_TO`	(required)	EVM address to receive USDC payments
`X402_PRICE`	$0.001	Price per query
`X402_NETWORK`	eip155:8453	Base mainnet
`X402_FACILITATOR`	https://x402.org/facilitator	x402 facilitator URL

Architecture

GTFS-RT Feeds (25 agencies)
    ↓ poll every 15s (ingest.py)
SQLite Database (transit.db)
    ↓ query
FastAPI Server (server.py)
    ↓ x402 middleware
AI Agent (pays USDC on Base)

Documentation