Board packet · transit data quality · checked 2026-10-07
Ben Franklin Transit
Grade B · 84.2 / 100
Up 0.2 points since 2026-10-06 (B to B).
What this grade measures
The quality of the schedule data in the feed scored here for trip-planning apps: whether riders using Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Transit see current, correct, and complete information. It measures the data feed, not service quality or operations.
Progress this period
Since the previous compatible check, 1 finding was no longer reported:
- 1 of 38 trips scheduled during the sampling window had no live predictions.
This records feed state, not who made a change or why.
What needs attention next
Three improvements, in priority order, each sized so the board can see what it is approving:
Check the trip updates endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
The trip updates realtime feed failed during sampling. When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
This was measured over a realtime sampling window, so it has no feed-wide share.
Estimated effort: Usually a vendor support ticket.
Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops.
657 of 876 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.
Fixing this covers 657 of 876 stops, about 75% of them.
Estimated effort: A column in stops.txt; your scheduling software likely has it.
Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip. If every vehicle is accessible, this may be one default; otherwise use the value for each trip.
13025 of 13025 trips don't say whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible. Even with accessible stops, riders need to know the bus itself can take them.
Fixing this covers all 13,025 trips in the feed.
Estimated effort: A default or per-trip field in your export.
Riders and need behind these fixes
- This feed carries no National Transit Database ID, so annual rider-trips are not known for it.
- Washington as a whole measures lower on transit need. That is a statewide reading, not one for this feed's service area. Source: US Census ACS 5-year 2022, statewide overlay, as of 2026-10-05.
These describe this feed only. They do not rank agencies, and they do not change the grade or the order of the fixes.
Finding handoff
Move one finding to a recheck
Select one finding. Copy the request, make the change in the feed-producing tool, then compare the next complete run.
- Feed evidence
- The trip updates realtime feed failed during sampling.
- Next action
- Check the trip updates endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
- Recheck
- Publish the changed feed at the same URL. On the next complete, comparable scorecard run, confirm that this finding is no longer reported.
Copy handoff text
- Feed evidence
- 657 of 876 stops don't say whether a wheelchair user can board there.
- Next action
- Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops.
- Recheck
- Publish the changed feed at the same URL. On the next complete, comparable scorecard run, confirm that this finding is no longer reported.
Copy handoff text
- Feed evidence
- 13025 of 13025 trips don't say whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible.
- Next action
- Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip. If every vehicle is accessible, this may be one default; otherwise use the value for each trip.
- Recheck
- Publish the changed feed at the same URL. On the next complete, comparable scorecard run, confirm that this finding is no longer reported.
Copy handoff text
Produced by the GTFS Scorecard, an open-source data quality tool. A data-quality read to support the board conversation, not an official compliance determination. Live scorecard: https://gtfsscorecard.org/agency/ben-franklin-transit-2122/. Rubric v1.4, validator 8.0.1.