Which operator does each agency record belong to? — noc_operator

Resolves GTFS agency records to Traveline operator identities, so that the several records one operator is filed under can be recognised as one.

Usage

noc_operator_key(agency_id, agency_name, noc)

Arguments

agency_id: character vector of `agency_id`s
agency_name: character vector of `agency_name`s, the same length
noc: the NOC database, as returned by [get_noc()]

Value

a character vector of operator keys, the same length as `agency_id`. Records that resolve to the same operator get the same key; records that do not resolve keep a key derived from their own `agency_id`, so they group exactly as they did before.

Details

Two ways in, tried in that order.

1. **By code.** `agency_id` is matched against the register's NOCs. This is the reliable route for a feed converted from TransXChange, where `agency_id` is the `NationalOperatorCode`. 2. **By name.** `agency_name` is matched, after normalisation, against every name the register knows an operator by - trading name, PSV licence name and legal name. This is the only route for a feed whose `agency_id` is its own invention, as the DfT's GTFS is, with ids like `OP401`.

A name that more than one operator answers to resolves nothing and is left alone. That matters: six separate companies in the DfT's July 2026 GTFS are all named `Bee Network`, and treating a shared brand as a shared operator would merge journeys run by different companies.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
noc <- get_noc()
# both of these are Stagecoach London, filed twice by TNDS - once under its
# National Operator Code and once under an unresolved local reference
noc_operator_key(c("ELBG", "IF"),
                 c("Stagecoach London",
                   "EAST LONDON BUS & COACH COMPANY LIMITED"), noc)
} # }