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Feed status · checked 2026-07-09
Boston Express
Based on the feed this agency publishes
unchanged since 2026-07-08
Ahead of 66% of all tracked agencies and 62% of small agencies.
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 7 hours ago; last changed 14 days ago.
Top things to fix
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
6 of 6 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
Populate trip_headsign to match what the bus displays.Likely your export tool
74 of 74 trips have no headsign. Riders at the stop can't tell which direction a bus is going.
⏱ Usually a bulk edit in your scheduling software.worth about +15 points
Add fare_attributes.txt (or Fares v2 files) with your fare structure. If your service is fare-free, ask to have it marked fare-free instead.
The feed contains no fare information. Riders see 'fare unknown' in trip planners and can't budget their trip; visitors are most affected.
⏱ A small file for most flat-fare systems.worth about +15 points
This feed is built with National RTAP's GTFS Builder. Your staff can usually make these changes in the GTFS Builder spreadsheets and republish, and National RTAP's help desk supports that at no cost.
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.
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. This feed is built with National RTAP's GTFS Builder. Your staff can usually make these changes in the GTFS Builder spreadsheets and republish, and National RTAP's help desk supports that at no cost.
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.
Populate trip_headsign to match what the bus displays. · Read the fix guide
Make the change. This feed is built with National RTAP's GTFS Builder. Your staff can usually make these changes in the GTFS Builder spreadsheets and republish, and National RTAP's help desk supports that at no cost.
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.
Add fare_attributes.txt (or Fares v2 files) with your fare structure. If your service is fare-free, ask to have it marked fare-free instead. · Read the fix guide
Make the change. This feed is built with National RTAP's GTFS Builder. Your staff can usually make these changes in the GTFS Builder spreadsheets and republish, and National RTAP's help desk supports that at no cost.
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
This feed comes from National RTAP's GTFS Builder, so your own staff can usually make these changes in the GTFS Builder spreadsheets and republish. If a consultant maintains it for you, forward this to them. Each fix names the validator notice and a guide link.
Score by category
The MobilityData validator flagged 3 kinds of issue across 355 instances (0 error, 281 warning, 74 informational).
Service data covers the next 906 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 not published.
0% of stops state accessibility (0% marked accessible). Reflects what the feed states, not verified physical usability.
Not scored yet. Nothing here counts against the grade.
Over time
Overall score across the last 20 checks — unchanged since 2026-07-08.
Show the numbers
| Check | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | 73.4 | first check |
| 2026-06-20 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-21 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-22 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-23 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-24 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-25 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-26 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-27 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-28 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-29 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-06-30 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-01 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-02 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-04 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-05 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-06 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-07 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-08 | 73.4 | no change |
| 2026-07-09 | 73.4 | no change |
What changed since your last check
- Correctness no change
- Freshness no change
- Rider experience 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
- Warning279 instances
Missing timepoint value (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'missing_timepoint_value' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: missing_timepoint_value · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning74 instances
74 of 74 trips have no headsign.
Riders at the stop can't tell which direction a bus is going.
Fix: Populate trip_headsign to match what the bus displays. (Usually a bulk edit in your scheduling software.)
Validator rule: scorecard_missing_headsigns · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Best Practices (opens GTFS Best Practices on an external site)
- Warning6 instances
6 of 6 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
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
feed_info.txt is missing its start/end dates
Apps and this scorecard can't warn anyone before the feed goes stale without stated validity dates.
Fix: Add feed_info.txt with feed_start_date and feed_end_date to your export. (Two fields, set once in export settings.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 16 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_missing_feed_info_dates · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
The feed contains no fare information.
Riders see 'fare unknown' in trip planners and can't budget their trip; visitors are most affected.
Fix: Add fare_attributes.txt (or Fares v2 files) with your fare structure. If your service is fare-free, ask to have it marked fare-free instead. (A small file for most flat-fare systems.)
Validator rule: scorecard_no_fare_data · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Best Practices (opens GTFS Best Practices on an external site)
- Info74 instances
Service extends far in the future (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'service_extends_far_in_the_future' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: service_extends_far_in_the_future · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
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 906 days.
- agency_id matches your NTD ID Not checked yet
- Setting your GTFS agency_id to your five-digit NTD ID is an optional way to line a feed up with its National Transit Database record. FTA links the two on your P-50 form, so it is not a required feed change. We don't have your NTD ID on file, so this is not checked yet.
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 100% of trips; the mark needs 90% of each.
- Valid Met
- Passes validation with no errors.
- Current Met
- Service data covers the next 906 days.
- Accessible Not yet
- States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 100% 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.
Clears the Google and Apple Maps four-week coverage bar. This feed has 906 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 87 / 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 85 / 100
- The FTA National Transit Database expectation of a valid, current feed. Google Transit: an expired calendar drops the agency from Maps.
- Rider experience 45 / 100
- GTFS Best Practices for rider-facing fields. MobilityData grading: stop names and headsigns.
- Realtime quality Not yet published
- GTFS-Realtime best practices: a stable URL, high uptime, and frequent updates.
Show your grade
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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/boston-express/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.
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