Transport Data Commons: Open, Interoperable Transport Data Built on CKAN
Explore how the Transport Data Commons, powered by CKAN, is transforming transport data from siloed PDFs into a global, interoperable, and reusable knowledge base—especially for low-emission mobility in the Global South.
The Transport Data Commons (TDC) is building a shared global infrastructure for sustainable mobility data — especially in the Global South, where transport emissions are rising fastest. At CKAN Monthly Live #34, Nicolas Becker of GIZ and the TDC Initiative gave a detailed walkthrough of the TDC’s vision, technical architecture, use cases, and what’s coming next.
This recap captures the essential insights from his talk, including the problem TDC solves and why CKAN was chosen.
Why the Transport Sector Needs a Commons
Nicolas opened with context:
“Transport or mobility is a basic good we consume in our daily life… Most of us still commute to work, go grocery shopping, visit family. This is all consumption of mobility.” – Nicolas Becker
Yet transport is the only major sector where CO₂ emissions are still rising—especially in non-OECD (Global South) countries.
“A large percentage of this increase is caused by increased traffic in non-OECD countries.” – Nicolas Becker
To tackle this, data is critical—for modeling, policy, and accountability. But right now, valuable data is:
Locked in PDFs
Buried in final reports
Forgotten after projects end
“Ultimately, this data has limited lifetime… it usually ends somewhere in a drawer.” – Nicolas Becker
The Birth of the Transport Data Commons
In 2022, Nicolas and his team at GIZ Transport and Climate Change interviewed NGOs, academics, and development institutions. Everyone agreed: siloed, single-use data was a problem.
At the International Transport Forum (ITF) summit in Leipzig, stakeholders laid the foundation for the Transport Data Commons Initiative (TDCI).
“We’re more of a birds-of-a-feather working group than a formal organization—individuals and institutions collaborating on a shared goal.” – Nicolas Becker
“The Datopian team turned our Figma prototype into a fully functional CKAN platform.” – Nicolas Becker
Two Core Use Cases
1. Data Consumers (researchers, analysts, NGOs, etc.)
“This could be a student, a researcher, an NGO employee… someone working on a study who needs transport data but doesn’t know where to find it.” – Nicolas Becker
Portal features:
Full-text search with autocomplete Easily find datasets using natural language or keywords.
Advanced filtering options Narrow results by country, region, topic, organization, format, or time range.
Dataset previews View tables, metadata, and sample records before downloading.
API access Retrieve data programmatically via the built-in CKAN API.
Global and country-level data views Explore datasets by geography through interactive country dashboards.
Multi-format citation support Automatically generate citations in APA, BibTeX, and LaTeX formats.
Transparent metadata Access source, licensing, update frequency, and contributor info.
Data licensing visibility Quickly see reuse conditions and open licenses.
Download in standard formats CSV, XLSX, GeoJSON, and more—depending on the dataset.
Responsive interface Works on desktop and mobile browsers.
Advanced filtering options
Transparent metadata
Dataset preview
Multi-format citation support
2. Data Providers (governments, NGOs, research labs)
Organizations or individuals with relevant transport data can contribute datasets through a guided and secure workflow.
“Users log in with GitHub and can submit datasets via a guided form.” – Nicolas Becker
Key features include:
GitHub-based login Authenticate via GitHub for secure access.
Data privacy: Signed URLs, private dataset controls
Custom features:
Approval workflows
Role-based publishing
Embeddable citation snippets
Geographic data views
“We’re using a proxy with signed URLs so private files can’t be accessed or shared without permission.” – João Demenech, Datopian
Current Status (Mid-2025)
“We’re in the transition from beta testing to full operation.” – Nicolas Becker
As of June 2025:
400+ datasets
17 organizations onboarded
7 topic categories
Regional data from countries like India, Ethiopia, Malawi
Why CKAN?
“Basically because it really fulfills all of these prerequisites we defined in the initial ideation phase — how a solution for one place for all data could look like.” – Nicolas Becker
During the early design phase, the TDC team identified key needs: openness, extensibility, ease of access, and an active developer community. CKAN checked all the boxes.
“CKAN was this open-source solution out there — sort of the de facto standard. We included it in our research, alongside examples like HDX and EnergyData.info, which were already using CKAN. Both developed by Datopian.” – Nicolas Becker
CKAN’s plugin architecture and strong developer base also gave the team confidence:
“We chose CKAN because we can build on a strong community and scale with custom extensions as needs evolve.”
“We offer flexible levels of involvement and co-design opportunities during the portal’s development.” – Nicolas Becker
Are you focused only on public transport?
“No. All transport-related data—fleets, emissions, public transport—is welcome. The users decide what’s useful.” – Nicolas Becker
How does the approval workflow work?
“Data is reviewed before going public. Even edits trigger a new review. It’s all role-based and admin-controlled.” – Nicolas Becker
How large are datasets? Where are they stored?
“Mostly megabytes. Stored in Cloudflare R2 with S3 APIs. Access is managed by CKAN’s permission system with presigned URLs.” – Luccas Mateus & João Demenech, Datopian
What is the Transport Data Commons?
A shared, global data platform focused on improving the usability and lifespan of transport datasets for climate, policy, and research purposes.
Rufus Pollock, creator of CKAN and founder of the Open Knowledge Foundation, shares the origin story of CKAN, lessons from 25 years in open data, and a vision for building sensemaking tools in the age of AI.
Join the CKAN POSE team’s community listening sessions this June to share your ideas, connect with others, and help shape a stronger, more inclusive CKAN ecosystem. Open to all—register now.