BVG Route Planner Skill

Purpose

• Provide concise, actionable public-transport directions in Berlin using the v6.bvg.transport.rest API.

When to use

• User asks for directions between two places in Berlin (addresses, stop names, or coordinates).

• User asks for next departures from a stop/station.

• User requests to arrive by a specific time (arrive-by) or depart at a specific time.

Core behavior

1. Resolve from and to into either stop IDs (preferred) or address/POI objects using GET /locations or /locations/nearby.

2. Call GET /journeys with arrival or departure parameter as requested, request results=3 and stopovers=true to construct step-by-step legs.

3. Format 2–3 options: show total travel time, number of transfers, walking time, and estimated departure/arrival times.

4. Provide step-by-step instructions for the selected journey: walk to stop A (distance/time), take line X toward Y, get off at stop B (platform if available), final walk to destination.

5. When appropriate, include the journey refreshToken and a GET /journeys/:ref refresh step to update realtime delays.

6. For simple next-departure queries, use GET /stops/:id/departures with duration=20 (or configurable) and return the nearest 3 departures.

Outputs

• Human-readable routes with departure times, transfers, walking distances, estimated arrival, and concise step list.

• Machine-friendly JSON (optional) containing journey id, refreshToken, legs, and stop IDs for programmatic refreshes.

References

• The skill expects to use the v6.bvg.transport.rest API (https://v6.bvg.transport.rest/api.html). See references/API.md for summary and examples.

Examples (triggers)

• "How do I get from Invalidenstraße 43 10115 to Leibnizstraße 62 by public transport?"

• "When is the next U-Bahn from U Rosenthaler Platz?"

• "Find journeys that arrive at Deutsche Oper by 17:50 tonight, fastest option first."

Notes for implementers

• IBNR format (CRITICAL): The /journeys endpoint requires base IBNR codes only (6 digits), not the full ID with :: suffixes.

  • ❌ Wrong: de:11000:900110001::3 or de:11000:900110001
  • ✅ Correct: 900110001 (extract base 6-digit code from /stops results)
  • Process: Call /stops?query=... first, extract the 6-digit id from results, use that for /journeys.

• URL encoding (CRITICAL): All query string parameters must be properly URL-encoded using urllib.parse.quote() or equivalent. Examples:

  • Space → %20
  • ö → %C3%B6
  • ü → %C3%BC
  • Ä → %C3%84
  • Special chars like &, ?, # → their percent-encoded equivalents
  • Example: Schönhauser Allee → Sch%C3%B6nhauser%20Allee
  • Every API call with address/stop name strings in query params must encode before building the URL.

• Prefer stop/station IDs when calling /journeys (more reliable than fuzzy names): Use /stops?query=... to resolve names → base IBNR.

• Use stopovers=true to build readable step lists; include entrances=true when walking-to-entrance accuracy is important.

• Request results=3 then offer the top 2–3 to the user.

• Handle timezone-aware ISO datetimes; default to Europe/Berlin if none provided.