MBTA V3 API

Base URL

https://api-v3.mbta.com

Authentication

No key required. A free key, obtained from the MBTA developer portal, raises the rate limit substantially but is not needed to use the API.

Rate limit

20 requests per minute without a key, 1,000 per minute with one. Reported in `X-RateLimit-Limit` and `X-RateLimit-Remaining`.

Pricing

Free at both tiers.

CORS

Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript

Official docs

Read the docs

Every request below was executed against the live API on 21 Aug 2026, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

curl 'https://api-v3.mbta.com/routes?filter%5Btype%5D=1&page%5Blimit%5D=2'

const res = await fetch("https://api-v3.mbta.com/routes?filter%5Btype%5D=1&page%5Blimit%5D=2");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

res = requests.get("https://api-v3.mbta.com/routes?filter%5Btype%5D=1&page%5Blimit%5D=2", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

{
  "data": [
    {
      "attributes": {
        "color": "DA291C",
        "description": "Rapid Transit",
        "direction_destinations": [
          "Ashmont/Braintree",
          "Alewife"
        ],
        "direction_names": [
          "South",
          "North"
        ],
        "fare_class": "Rapid Transit",
        "listed_route": true,
        "long_name": "Red Line",
        "short_name": "",
        "sort_order": 10010,
        "text_color": "FFFFFF",
        "type": 1
      },
      "id": "Red",
      "links": {
        "self": "/routes/Red"
      },
      "relationships": {
        "agency": {
          "data": {
            "id": "1",
            "type": "agency"
          }
        },
        "line": {
          "data": {
            "id": "line-Red",
            "type": "line"
          }
        }
      },
      "type": "route"
    },
    {
      "attributes": {
        "color": "ED8B00",
        "description": "Rapid Transit",
        "direction_destinations": [
          "Forest Hills",
          "Oak Grove"
        ],
        "direction_names": [
          "South",
          "North"
        ],
        "fare_class": "Rapid Transit",
        "listed_route": true,
        "long_name": "Orange Line",
        "short_name": "",
        "sort_order": 10020,
        "text_color": "FFFFFF",
        "type": 1
      },
      "id": "Orange",
      "links": {
        "self": "/routes/Orange"
      },
      "relationships": {
        "agency": {
          "data": {
            "id": "1",
            "type": "agency"
          }
        },
        "line": {

dataarray

JSON:API resource objects. The useful values are inside `attributes`, not at the top level.

data[].idstring

Resource identifier — "Red", "Orange", "place-sstat". Human-readable for routes and stations.

attributes.long_name / short_namestring

Route names. Subway lines use `long_name` ("Red Line"); buses use `short_name` (the route number).

attributes.color / text_colorstring

Official hex colours without the leading hash, for rendering line badges correctly.

attributes.direction_names / direction_destinationsarray

Two-element arrays indexed by direction id — ["South", "North"] paired with their destinations.

attributes.typeinteger

GTFS route type. 1 is heavy rail, which is what the example filters on.

attributes.fare_classstring

Fare category, such as "Rapid Transit" or "Commuter Rail" — what a rider is charged, not how the vehicle runs.

relationshipsobject

References to related resources by type and id. Use `include` to have them resolved in one call.

(predictions) arrival_time / departure_time / statusstring

Live predicted times and status text, on the predictions endpoint.

• Build a live arrival board for a Boston station or stop
• Show subway, bus and commuter rail routes with official colours
• Alert riders to delays and diversions from the alerts endpoint
• Track live vehicle positions on a map
• Plan trips using schedules, trips and stop sequences

If MBTA V3 API does not fit, these transport & vehicle apis cover similar ground. Every one was called before publishing, and each links to its own reference page with a working curl command and the response it returned.