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Feed status · checked 2026-07-09
Arlington Transit
Based on the feed this agency publishes
unchanged since 2026-07-08
Ahead of 62% of all tracked agencies and 60% of mid-size agencies. Operates in Virginia.
A data-quality and completeness lens to help an agency improve its GTFS feed. Not an official compliance determination from any transit program. New to this? How to read your scorecard. Interactive view of this scorecard. Rubric v1.1, validator 8.0.1.
Checked for changes 16 minutes ago; last changed 18 days ago.
Top things to fix
Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
The service alerts realtime feed failed during sampling. When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
⏱ Usually a vendor support ticket.worth about +8 points
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops.Likely your team
574 of 574 stops don't say whether a wheelchair user can board there. Riders who use wheelchairs can't plan a trip when accessibility is marked 'unknown'; apps show no information at all.
⏱ A column in stops.txt; your scheduling software likely has it.worth about +25 points
Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip (most small-agency fleets are 100% accessible, so this is often a single default).Likely your export tool
2116 of 2116 trips don't say whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible. Even with accessible stops, riders need to know the bus itself can take them.
⏱ Often one default setting in your export.worth about +15 points
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
Close the loop on each fix. Read the guide, make the change in your tool, and let the next run verify it — the scorecard shows the fix; the agency publishes it.
Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. · Read the fix guide
Make the change. Make this change in whatever tool produces your feed, then re-export.
Prove it cleared. The next scorecard run re-checks this automatically and, once it is gone, mints a dated receipt. Self-check a feed before you publish.
Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops. · Read the fix guide
Make the change. Make this change in whatever tool produces your feed, then re-export.
Prove it cleared. The next scorecard run re-checks this automatically and, once it is gone, mints a dated receipt. Self-check a feed before you publish.
Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip (most small-agency fleets are 100% accessible, so this is often a single default). · Read the fix guide
Make the change. Make this change in whatever tool produces your feed, then re-export.
Prove it cleared. The next scorecard run re-checks this automatically and, once it is gone, mints a dated receipt. Self-check a feed before you publish.
Send your vendor a fix request
You may not control the GTFS export yourself. Copy this and send it to whoever runs your scheduling software export. It names each fix with the validator notice and a guide link.
Score by category
The MobilityData validator flagged 6 kinds of issue across 15366 instances (0 error, 15366 warning, 0 informational).
Service data covers the next 326 days.
0% of stops state wheelchair accessibility (0% marked accessible, 0% marked not accessible). This measures what the feed publishes, not whether a stop is physically usable. Fare data is published.
0% of stops state accessibility (0% marked accessible). Reflects what the feed states, not verified physical usability.
Fares are applied to trips.
Sampled 6 times: 2 of 3 feeds healthy; 92.9% of scheduled trips had live predictions; 100.0% of vehicles on their route; predictions ran a median of 18s behind schedule.
Over time
Overall score across the last 20 checks — unchanged since 2026-07-08.
Show the numbers
| Check | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | 70.2 | first check |
| 2026-06-20 | 70.1 | down 0.1 |
| 2026-06-21 | 70.5 | up 0.4 |
| 2026-06-22 | 70.9 | up 0.4 |
| 2026-06-23 | 70.7 | down 0.2 |
| 2026-06-24 | 70.5 | down 0.2 |
| 2026-06-25 | 71.2 | up 0.7 |
| 2026-06-26 | 70.6 | down 0.6 |
| 2026-06-27 | 71.1 | up 0.5 |
| 2026-06-28 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-06-29 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-06-30 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-01 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-02 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-04 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-05 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-06 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-07 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-08 | 71.1 | no change |
| 2026-07-09 | 71.1 | no change |
What changed since your last check
- Correctness no change
- Freshness no change
- Rider experience no change
- Realtime quality no change
What changed in this feed
Overall grade and score held steady since 2026-07-08.
Same feed file as 2026-07-08; the published zip did not change.
Subscribe to this feed’s changes (Atom) to hear about grade drops in a reader, with no sign-up.
Everything we checked
- Error1 instance
The service alerts realtime feed failed during sampling.
When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
Fix: Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. (Usually a vendor support ticket.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_rt_service_alerts_unreachable · Read the fix guide · See GTFS-Realtime reference (opens the GTFS-Realtime reference on an external site)
- Warning13662 instances
Leading or trailing whitespaces (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'leading_or_trailing_whitespaces' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: leading_or_trailing_whitespaces · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning2116 instances
2116 of 2116 trips don't say whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible.
Even with accessible stops, riders need to know the bus itself can take them.
Fix: Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip (most small-agency fleets are 100% accessible, so this is often a single default). (Often one default setting in your export.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_wheelchair_accessible_unknown · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Schedule reference (opens the GTFS Schedule reference on an external site)
- Warning1699 instances
Some rider-facing names are in ALL CAPS or all lowercase.
ALL-CAPS stop and headsign names are harder to read in apps and are read awkwardly by screen readers.
Fix: Use mixed case for stop names and headsigns (e.g. 'Main St & 2nd Ave', not 'MAIN ST & 2ND AVE'). (Often a bulk fix in your scheduling software.)
Validator rule: mixed_case_recommended_field · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning574 instances
574 of 574 stops don't say whether a wheelchair user can board there.
Riders who use wheelchairs can't plan a trip when accessibility is marked 'unknown'; apps show no information at all.
Fix: Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops. (A column in stops.txt; your scheduling software likely has it.)
Validator rule: scorecard_wheelchair_boarding_unknown · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Schedule reference (opens the GTFS Schedule reference on an external site)
- Warning2 instances
The feed contains route shapes no trip uses.
Harmless to riders, but it bloats the feed and suggests stale export data.
Fix: Enable 'remove unused shapes' (or similar) in your export tool. (One setting.)
Validator rule: unused_shape · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
Missing feed contact email and url (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'missing_feed_contact_email_and_url' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 6 observed fixes).
Validator rule: missing_feed_contact_email_and_url · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
Some files are missing recommended (not required) fields.
Recommended fields like agency_phone or stop descriptions make the feed more useful to riders and trip planners.
Fix: Review the flagged fields and fill in the ones your riders would use. (A field at a time; not urgent.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 2 weeks (based on 8 observed fixes).
Validator rule: missing_recommended_field · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
Some stops exist in the feed but no trip ever stops at them.
Riders may walk to a stop where no bus is scheduled to arrive.
Fix: Remove retired stops from the export, or add them back to the trips that should serve them. (A review pass in your scheduling software.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 11 observed fixes).
Validator rule: stop_without_stop_time · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
1 of 14 trips scheduled during the sampling window had no live predictions.
Riders on those trips get schedule data dressed up as realtime. Caltrans expects every operating trip in TripUpdates.
Fix: Check with your AVL vendor that every vehicle assignment flows into TripUpdates, including school-day and tripper runs. (A vendor data-mapping question.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 82 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_rt_trip_coverage · Read the fix guide · See GTFS-Realtime reference (opens the GTFS-Realtime reference on an external site)
- Info557 instances
About 557 stop names are written in ALL CAPS.
Mixed-case names are easier to read in apps and are read more naturally by screen readers.
Fix: Rename stops to mixed case (e.g. 'Main St & 2nd Ave'). (Often a bulk fix in your scheduling software.)
Validator rule: scorecard_stop_names_all_caps · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Best Practices (opens GTFS Best Practices on an external site)
- Info1 instance
feed_info.txt has no technical contact (feed_contact_email or feed_contact_url).
App makers and state data programs have nobody to email when they spot a problem with your feed, so problems linger.
Fix: Add feed_contact_email to feed_info.txt. (One field.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 10 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_no_feed_contact · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
Beyond the grade
Opportunities that do not change your grade today: fare detail, on-demand service, and deeper accessibility data.
573 stop name(s) use abbreviations or symbols a screen reader may mispronounce, with no spoken form set ("S CARLIN SPRINGS RD NB @ COLUMBIA PIKE FS", "S ARLINGTON MILL DR EB @ S TAYLOR ST NS", "S ARLINGTON MILL DR WB @ S TAYLOR ST FS", and more).
Consider: Add tts_stop_name with the spoken form, e.g. 'Main Street and Second Avenue', for the affected stops.
Some fixes we can make for you
These are the safe mechanical fixes, applied to a copy of your feed. They change only what is certain and leave everything else untouched. Review the diff before you publish.
Recased shouting stop names 557 changes
For example: S CARLIN SPRINGS RD NB @ COLUMBIA PIKE FS -> S Carlin Springs Rd Nb @ Columbia Pike Fs
NTD certification readiness Ready
Published at a public URL, valid, and current: the three things the NTD GTFS requirement asks of a feed all hold here. Only your own D-10 certification makes that official; this is a heads-up, not a determination.
- Published Ready
- Published at a public URL.
- Valid Ready
- Passes validation with no errors.
- Current Ready
- Service data covers the next 326 days.
- agency_id matches your NTD ID Not aligned
- Your feed's agency_id is 1; your National Transit Database ID is 30080. A feed that serves several agencies (a shared regional feed) can legitimately carry more than one agency_id, so a difference here is a heads-up, not an error. Optionally set the agency_id for your service to 30080 in agency.txt (and the matching agency_id in routes.txt) so the feed lines up with your NTD record. It is a convenience, not a required feed change: FTA also links agency_id to your NTD ID on your P-50 form.
In plain words: if you report to the federal transit database, you have to publish a working, up-to-date feed and confirm it once a year. This box is a heads-up on whether yours looks ready; it is not the official sign-off.
A readiness signal mapping this feed to the FTA National Transit Database GTFS requirement (Report Year 2023 onward: a public, valid, current feed, certified annually on the D-10). Aligning agency_id with your NTD ID lets the feed line up with your NTD record; the July 2025 final rule links the two on the P-50 form rather than requiring that feed change, and requires shapes.txt in the published GTFS: Full Reporters from Report Year 2025, and Reduced, Rural, and Tribal Reporters from Report Year 2026. Not an official determination; your certification is the official check.
Conformance mark Not yet
This feed is close to the conformance mark. States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 0% of trips; the mark needs 90% of each.
- Valid Met
- Passes validation with no errors.
- Current Met
- Service data covers the next 326 days.
- Accessible Not yet
- States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 0% of trips; the mark needs 90% of each.
In plain words: earn this mark when your feed passes validation, has not expired, and says whether nearly every stop and trip is wheelchair accessible.
A pass credential for a feed that is valid, current, and states wheelchair access on nearly every stop and trip. Accessibility here measures what the feed publishes, not whether a stop is physically usable. How the conformance mark works.
Can riders use it?
Checks beyond structural validation: places where the feed is valid but a rider still could not travel.
- 1 of 574 boardable stops are never served by any trip. Riders see these stops in apps and on the map but can never catch anything there, which erodes trust in the data. Remove stops no route serves, or add the trips that should call at them.
These do not change the grade. They catch trips with no rideable leg and stops no trip serves, the kind of gap a trip planner trips over.
Realtime reliability
The realtime feed responded on 100.0% of 105 checks over the last 16 days, with 15s median lag.
Sampled on a schedule between full scores, so this tracks uptime and freshness over time rather than at a single moment.
Prediction accuracy
Arrival predictions ran a median 18s late versus the schedule, and stayed within 197s nine times in ten. They were on time (about a minute early to five late) 90.4% of the time. 100.0% of reported vehicle positions sat on or near the published route shape.
From the last full realtime sample: how far live arrival predictions sat from the schedule, and whether vehicle positions fell on the route. These feed the realtime score; they change no other category.
Clears the Google and Apple Maps four-week coverage bar. This feed has 326 days of service ahead, clearing the four-week (28-day) window Maps asks for. No validator errors either, so riders keep seeing this agency in their trip planners; warnings lower the grade here but do not remove a feed from Maps.
How this agency maps to the standards
A data-quality lens, not a compliance determination. Each category shows this feed's score and the standards it relates to: the FTA National Transit Database GTFS requirement, the MobilityData grading scheme, and the Google Transit gate. Read the full standards crosswalk.
- Correctness 68 / 100
- GTFS Schedule best practices, checked by the MobilityData validator. MobilityData grading: stop locations, route names and colors. Google Transit: a feed must pass validation to stay in Maps.
- Freshness 100 / 100
- The FTA National Transit Database expectation of a valid, current feed. Google Transit: an expired calendar drops the agency from Maps.
- Rider experience 38 / 100
- GTFS Best Practices for rider-facing fields. MobilityData grading: stop names and headsigns.
- Realtime quality 89 / 100
- GTFS-Realtime best practices: a stable URL, high uptime, and frequent updates.
Show your grade
Put a live badge on your agency site or feed README. It updates daily and links back to this scorecard.
Prefer a shields.io style? Point a dynamic endpoint badge at the published badge.json.
Cite this record
This page updates on every check. The record below does not: it is the dated file this grade came from, published at https://gtfsscorecard.org/data/artifacts/arlington-transit/2026-07-09.json and never overwritten, pinning the grade, category scores, rubric version, validator version, and the scored feed's sha256 as they stood on 2026-07-09. Use it in a board packet, an NTD narrative, or a research citation instead of linking the live page, whose content will differ on your next visit.
Citing the tool itself rather than one agency's record? Use the repo's CITATION.cff.