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All transit data in SmartMove comes from the South Tyrol transit authority’s EFA API at https://efa.sta.bz.it/apb. The integration lives in src/app/services/efa.ts.

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Base URL

https://efa.sta.bz.it/apb
No API key is required. All requests are made directly from the browser.

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searchStopsEfa(query)

The primary autocomplete function. It searches for stops matching a query string and automatically adds bilingual translations so users get results regardless of whether they type in German or Italian. 
searchStopsEfa(query: string): Promise<EfaStop[]>
The function:
  1. Normalizes the query and looks up any known bilingual translations
  2. Builds a list of unique query variants (original + translated)
  3. Fires all variants in parallel via searchSingleEfa()
  4. Deduplicates results by stop ID and returns a flat list
Minimum query length is 2 characters. Shorter queries return an empty array immediately.

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searchLocations(query)

A higher-level wrapper over searchStopsEfa that returns GeocodingResult objects suitable for dropdown suggestions: 
searchLocations(query: string): Promise<GeocodingResult[]>

interface GeocodingResult {
  name: string;
  coords: { lat: number; lon: number };
  type: 'stop' | 'station' | 'address';
  gtfsId?: string;
  distance?: number;
}

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EfaStop type

interface EfaStop {
  id: string;       // stateless ID or coordinate-derived fallback
  name: string;     // stop display name
  type: string;     // 'stop', 'station', 'platform', or 'address'
  lat: number;
  lon: number;
  distance?: number; // metres from search origin, if available
}

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EFA endpoint

Stop search hits the XML_STOPFINDER_REQUEST endpoint: 
GET /apb/XML_STOPFINDER_REQUEST
  ?outputFormat=JSON
  &outputEncoding=UTF-8
  &language={de|it}
  &type_sf=any
  &name_sf={query}
Each query is fired twice in parallel — once in German and once in Italian — to maximize result coverage. The language parameter controls the display language for stop names in the response.

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Bilingual translation

South Tyrol is officially bilingual (German and Italian). Stop names, city names, and transit facility names differ between languages. efa.ts ships a built-in translation map:
GermanItalian
BozenBolzano
MeranMerano
BrixenBressanone
BruneckBrunico
SterzingVipiteno
SchlandersSilandro
BahnhofStazione
BusbahnhofAutostazione
When the user types a word that matches any entry in this map, searchStopsEfa appends the translated variant as an additional query. Both variants run in parallel and results are merged by ID. 
// Example: typing "Bolzano" also searches "Bozen"
// Example: typing "Bahnhof" also searches "Stazione"
Translation matching is case-insensitive and diacritic-insensitive. The replacement preserves the original casing of the typed text.

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Transport modes

The service layer maps EFA’s internal mode codes to a normalized set used throughout the app:
ModeCovers
RAILSAD regional trains, Trenitalia
BUSSASA urban buses (Bolzano, Merano), SAD regional coaches
GONDOLACable cars and aerial tramways (Seilbahn)
WALKWalking segments between stops

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Language selection

efa.ts reads the EFA language from getEfaLanguage(), which returns 'de' or 'it' based on the user’s active locale:
  • German → de
  • Italian → it
  • English → de (fallback)
  • Ladin → de (fallback)
When the EFA language is Italian, the service queries Italian first and German second. When it is German, the order is reversed. This ensures that the primary-language result takes precedence in the merged list.

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Error handling

searchSingleEfa wraps each request in a try/catch. If a request fails, it returns an empty array — the outer searchStopsEfa continues with results from whichever queries succeeded. No error is surfaced to the user for a failed autocomplete request.
The EFA API does not require authentication. All requests are made client-side directly from the browser. CORS is permitted by the server.

Architecture

How the EFA service fits into the overall app architecture.

Development setup

Running SmartMove locally.

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