Call-prep brief · checked 2026-08-01
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Grade D · 68.0 / 100
Down 0.9 points since 2026-07-31 (D to D).
For this call: lead with the grade and the three fixes below, then confirm the feed is current and the NTD details line up. Each fix is framed as a next step, not a failure.
What changed since the last check
- Correctness no change
- Freshness down 1.7
- Rider experience no change
- Realtime quality down 2.9
Top three things to fix
Review the rule documentation for 'same_name_and_description_for_stop' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed.
Same name and description for stop (flagged by the MobilityData validator). See the linked rule for what this affects.
Effort: Varies.
Review the rule documentation for 'route_short_name_too_long' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed.
Route short name too long (flagged by the MobilityData validator). See the linked rule for what this affects.
Effort: Varies.
Remove retired stops from the export, or add them back to the trips that should serve them.
Some stops exist in the feed but no trip ever stops at them. Riders may walk to a stop where no transit vehicle is scheduled to arrive.
Effort: A review pass in your scheduling software.
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
- Same name and description for stop (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
- Next action
- Review the rule documentation for 'same_name_and_description_for_stop' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed.
- 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
- Route short name too long (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
- Next action
- Review the rule documentation for 'route_short_name_too_long' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed.
- 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
- Some stops exist in the feed but no trip ever stops at them.
- Next action
- Remove retired stops from the export, or add them back to the trips that should serve them.
- 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
NTD GTFS readiness: Ready
Published at a public URL, valid, current, and identified with agency_id: the four feed checks for RY2026 all hold here. Only your own D-10 and P-50 filings make 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 35 days.
- agency_id provided Ready
- agency.txt provides agency_id. For RY2026, keep one stable value for each NTD reporter represented in the feed and crosswalk each value on the P-50 form.
agency_id equals NTD ID (optional): Different (allowed). Your feed's agency_id is 3, 1; your National Transit Database ID is 10003. A feed that serves several agencies (a shared regional feed) can legitimately carry more than one agency_id. The values do not need to equal the five-digit NTD ID, so this difference is allowed and carries no score. Confirm that P-50 crosswalks agency_id 3, 1 to NTD ID 10003, and keep the feed value stable. Do not change it solely to make the two values equal.
Key facts
- Feed URL
- https://cdn.mbta.com/MBTA_GTFS.zip
- Last checked
- 2026-08-01
- Service window
- 35 days of service data remain. Last service date 2026-09-05.
- Feed version
- Summer 2026, 2026-07-31T16:40:17+00:00, version D
- Location
- Massachusetts
Part of the Massachusetts portfolio: see where this agency sits among the state's feeds before the call.
A data-quality and completeness read to support an agency conversation. Not an official compliance determination. Rubric v1.3, validator 8.0.1.