Wikipedia:Notability (transportation)

Wikipedia already includes a large number of articles on transportation-related topics, such as streets, roads, and highways, bridges and tunnels, railroads and rail stations, transportation services, and vehicles used to provide transportation. Wikipedia's notability guidelines apply to these in the same manner as they would to all other topics. This proposal describes how these sources can be applied, and what is likely to be notable or not, thereby aiding in AfD discussions.

Use of sources
Sources directly affiliated with the subject do not render notability. However, once notability has been established in accordance with WP:N guidelines, these sources can be used as a source of verification. These includes atlases, street maps, and online maps (linkable to the exact location), a transit agency's home page, or other information provided by a government or corporate source.

Many transportation articles cover subjects familiar only to those within the immediate region where they are located. Sources of interest within the local region alone do not convey notabilty, but may be used once notability has been established to verify information.

Travel guides cannot be used to establish notability, but information published in a reliable travel guide may be used to verify information. Self-published or other homemade travel guides are not considered "reliable" by Wikipedia guidelines.

Streets, roads, and highways
Every street, road, and highway is shown in some atlas or detailed street map somewhere. Therefore, inclusion in such a directory does not constitute notability.

A street, road, or highway is notable if it is covered by one or more or featured in two or more reliable sources from outside the immediate area where it is found. This is most likely to include:
 * Major streets in a large city
 * Highways or other main roads connecting cities and towns
 * Toll roads
 * Numbered roads in a place in which numbered roads exist
 * Small streets and roads, even side streets, that have some unique feature

This is not likely to include:
 * The side street or small road on which you or your friend lives
 * Main Street in a small town
 * Secondary roads in a city or suburb

A street or road is not automatically notable because the subject it is named after is notable. There are many small street, including side streets, named after historically famous people. Also, if a street is named after a person or subject, this must be cited and not presumed in order to be stated within the article.

If a road seems important within an area, but is not notable beyond
Streets and roads that do not meet notability standards to merit their own article, but are an important part of the transportation infrastructure to a city, town, or neighborhood may be described within the article on that city, town, or neighborhood. This may include:
 * Main Street (or similar) within the town
 * A road in which a few landmarks important to the area are located
 * A road important to thru traffic in the region

Bridges and tunnels
Bridges and tunnels are notable if they have been analyzed and discussed in multiple independent sources, discussing things such as their history and impact on a region. Simple inclusion on a map or atlas does not generally constitute sufficient discussion to provide a tunnel or bridge with notability.


 * Officially named bridges and tunnels are likely to be notable if they are important enough to be named.
 * All bridges or tunnels on which tolls are collected are likely to be notable.
 * Unnamed bridges and tunnels (such as those over creeks, streams, and small rivers) and highway overpasses are not likely to be notable.

Transportation services
Transportation services, and associated items, are notable if they have been discussed in multiple, independent sources. Timetables, schedules, ticket sales, pricelists, and similar items do not convey notability, but may be used to verify information thereafter.

Services with likely notability include:
 * National, continental, regional, and commuter rail services
 * Major routes and rail lines
 * Train stations

Intercity bus services
Intercity bus services providing regularly scheduled, fixed-route services on multiple routes between two or more major cities or regions are likely to be notable. Their individual routes are not likely to be notable, but may be discussed within the article (with proper citations) if relevant.

Charter and contract bus companies, which are usually contained to a single city or region, are not likely to be notable.

Mass transit
All mass transit is likely to be notable to some degree. This varies, depending on its size and the number of routes and services it provides. Some mass transit systems in major cities have a large number of articles on their services. WP:SIZE guidelines help in determining this.
 * A small town's bus service with just a few routes can be mentioned in the article on the town if the town has a relatively short article.
 * If the section within an article outgrows the article on the town, it can be split into its own article on the service. This article can list and describe encyclopedic information on its routes.
 * If the list and description of an agency's routes outgrows the article on the system, this can be split into a separate article titled List of Transit Agency bus routes. This page can be used to describe details on the bus routes. Since the transit agency itself has already been proven notable, notability need not be separately established on this page, but sources of the information must still be listed. An external link to the agency's official site, along with an internal link to the main article on the agency, is acceptable.
 * If the information on all the individual bus routes of an agency, when put together in a single article, exceeds article size guidelines, separate articles can be created on groups of bus routes that the agency itself defines as being related, or on individual bus routes. When this is done, a navbox shall be created linking all these routes and other articles pertaining to the transit agency. Individual bus routes are only likely to be notable in major cities that have rapid transit systems.

News stories about funding and routing controversies, etc. are generally not sufficient to establish notability, but may be used to verify the accuracy of information of mass transit for which notability has already been established.

Naming guidelines
A bus route article shall be titled as follows:
 * The word "Route" followed by the route number
 * (The name of the operating agency) in parentheses

If multiple bus routes are described in one article, such a title can be created as a targeted redirect to that section.

Rapid transit
Rapid transit systems are likely to be notable. When a city or region has a single line of rapid transit, the system itself is likely to be notable enough to have its own article separate from that of the agency providing the service. If a rapid transit system has multiple routes, each route is likely to be notable enough to have an article of its own in addition to the article on the system itself.

In large rapid transit systems, it is possible for individual stations to have notability. It is preferable to start by listing all of a system's or line's stations in the article about the line. When more than the rudimentary information can be provided and verified, individual articles can be created on those stations. When multiple station articles are created, a navbox shall be created to link them and other articles pertaining to the system.

Naming guidelines
A rapid transit article shall be titled as follows:
 * For rapid transit lines
 * First, the number, color, or other identifying name of the line
 * (Then, the system's or operating agency's name) in parentheses

Aircraft
Aircraft types generally are notable. Aircraft subtypes needed some guidelines. See Notability (aircraft).

Airports
Airports can be notable if they have been discussed in multiple, reliable sources. Commercial airports are likely to be notable. See Notability (airports).

Airlines
Commercial airlines can be notable if they have been discussed in multiple, reliable sources.