specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/RateLimits
provider: Transit
providerId: transit
created: '2026-05-23'
modified: '2026-05-23'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Public Transit
  - Real-Time
  - Mobility
description: >-
  Transit publishes a single documented free-tier limit on the partner API:
  5 calls per minute and 1,500 calls per month per access key. Limits are
  scoped to the partner access key issued after the request-form approval.
  Higher throughput is available only via direct contact with the
  partnerships team; no published policy describes burst, retry, or
  idempotency behavior.
sources:
  - https://transitapp.com/apis
  - https://api-doc.transitapp.com/
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  unauthorized: 401
limits:
  - name: Per-minute request rate (free tier)
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 5
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      Applies to every access key issued under the standard free partner
      tier. Negotiated tiers raise this ceiling.
  - name: Monthly request quota (free tier)
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 1500
    timeFrame: month
    notes: >-
      Hard monthly cap on every standard partner key. Quota resets on
      the calendar month; production deployments must upgrade.
  - name: Negotiated partner ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: varies
    limit: 'contact partnerships team for sustained production volume'
    notes: >-
      Transit does not publish higher tiers; signage, embedded trip
      planners, and first/last-mile platforms negotiate limits directly
      with partners+website@transit.app.
policies:
  - name: Approval-gated access
    description: >-
      Keys are issued only after the Google Form request is approved;
      anonymous/self-service signup is not available.
  - name: Per-key scoping
    description: >-
      All published limits apply per access key, not per source IP or
      per agency. Partners running multiple deployments should request
      additional keys via the partnerships team.
  - name: Hard quota at the monthly ceiling
    description: >-
      The 1,500 calls/month cap is a hard quota in the free tier; once
      hit, requests are rejected until the calendar month rolls over
      or the key is upgraded.
  - name: Soft retry guidance
    description: >-
      Transit publishes no explicit retry/backoff policy; consumers
      should treat 429 responses as advisory and use exponential
      backoff with jitter on retries.