Sharedmobility.ch Swisstopo API & Map

This page documents the vehicle type icon mapping used on the sharedmobility.ch map (powered by map.geo.admin.ch).

Overview

The api.sharedmobility.ch/swisstopo API provides GeoJSON data with a symbol property that maps to vehicle type icons. The actual icon images are hosted on data.geo.admin.ch and rendered on the map based on zoom level.

Data Flow

1. Backend-gbfs API (api.sharedmobility.ch/swisstopo) provides GeoJSON with symbol property
2. geo.admin.ch loads vector style configuration from /rest/services/api/MapServer/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/vectorStyle
3. Frontend maps symbol value to icon URL based on current zoom level
4. Icons are loaded from https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/

GBFS to Symbol Mapping and Icons

The Backend-gbfs API maps GBFS form_factor and propulsion_type to internal vehicle types. Each symbol has two states: with vehicles available (colored icon) and without vehicles (gray icon with "0" suffix).

GBFS form_factor	GBFS propulsion_type	Symbol	Description	Icon URLs
bicycle	human	Bike / Bike0	Regular bicycle
bicycle	electric / electric_assist	E-Bike / E-Bike0	Electric bicycle
cargo_bicycle	human	CargoBike / CargoBike0	Cargo bicycle
cargo_bicycle	electric / electric_assist	E-CargoBike / E-CargoBike0	Electric cargo bicycle
scooter	human	Scooter / Scooter0	Kick scooter
scooter	electric	E-Scooter / E-Scooter0	Electric scooter
moped	combustion	Moped / Moped0	Combustion moped
moped	electric	E-Moped / E-Moped0	Electric moped
car	combustion / hybrid	Car / Car0	Combustion car
car	electric / electric_assist	E-Car / E-Car0	Electric car
-	-	Taxi / Taxi0	Taxi (not commonly used)
-	-	E-Taxi / E-Taxi0	Electric taxi (not commonly used)
other	human	Other / Other0	Other vehicle type
other	electric	E-Other / E-Other0	Electric other vehicle type

Icon Sizes and Zoom Levels

Each symbol has 3 icon sizes for different zoom levels:

Icon Size	Resolution Range	Use Case
50px	0 - 20	High zoom level (close view, most detail)
40px	20 - 250	Medium zoom level
30px	250+	Low zoom level (far view, overview)

Icon URL Pattern

All icons follow this URL pattern:

https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/{Symbol}_{Size}.png

Examples:

• https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/E-Bike_50px.png
• https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/E-Bike_40px.png
• https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/E-Bike_30px.png
• https://data.geo.admin.ch/ch.bfe.shared-mobility/icons/E-Bike0_50px.png

GeoJSON Example

Example GeoJSON feature from api.sharedmobility.ch/swisstopo:

{
  "type": "Feature",
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [7.4474, 46.9479]
  },
  "properties": {
    "symbol": "E-Bike",
    "provider_id": "publibike",
    "name": "Bern Bahnhof",
    "count": 12,
    "address": "Bahnhofplatz, Bern"
  }
}

Multi-Vehicle Type Stations

For stations with multiple vehicle types, the Backend-gbfs API selects the symbol based on enum priority. The priority is determined by the Kotlin enum declaration order in the source code, where the last enum value has the highest priority.

VehicleType Priority (lowest to highest):

Priority	VehicleType
1 (lowest)	OTHER
2	SCOOTER
3	ESCOOTER
4	BIKE
5	EBIKE
6	CARGOBIKE
7	ECARGOBIKE
8	MOPED
9	EMOPED
10	CAR
11 (highest)	ECAR

Implementation: The code uses maxOf { it } on the VehicleType enum, selecting the enum with the highest ordinal value.

Example:

• Station has: 5 E-Scooters + 0 E-Cars
• Symbol selected: E-Car0 (because ECAR has higher priority than ESCOOTER, even with 0 count)
• Icon displayed: Gray E-Car icon with "0" suffix