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Feed status · checked 2026-06-27
Metra
Based on the feed this agency publishes
unchanged since 2026-06-26
Ahead of 14% of all tracked agencies and 14% of mid-size agencies. Operates in Illinois.
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 23 hours ago; last changed 11 days ago.
Top things to fix
Add feed_start_date and feed_end_date to feed_info.txt and include calendar end dates in your export.Likely your export tool
Neither feed_info.txt nor the calendars state when service ends. Nobody can tell when this feed will go stale.
⏱ Likely a one-time export setting.worth about +100 points
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
241 of 241 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
4352 of 4352 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.
Add feed_start_date and feed_end_date to feed_info.txt and include calendar end dates in your export.
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. See this feed's dated fix log.
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. See this feed's dated fix log.
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. See this feed's dated fix log.
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 11 instances (0 error, 7 warning, 4 informational).
No service end date could be found in this feed, so there is no way to know when riders will lose trip planning.
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.
Not scored yet. Nothing here counts against the grade.
Over time
Overall score across the last 9 checks — unchanged since 2026-06-26.
Show the numbers
| Check | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | 37.7 | first check |
| 2026-06-20 | 36.8 | down 0.9 |
| 2026-06-21 | 36.8 | no change |
| 2026-06-22 | 36.8 | no change |
| 2026-06-23 | 36.8 | no change |
| 2026-06-24 | 36.8 | no change |
| 2026-06-25 | 36.8 | no change |
| 2026-06-26 | 39.5 | up 2.7 |
| 2026-06-27 | 39.5 | 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 2026-06-26.
The feed file was re-published since 2026-06-26 (+6 KB).
Subscribe to this feed’s changes (Atom) to hear about grade drops in a reader, with no sign-up.
Everything we checked
- Error1 instance
Neither feed_info.txt nor the calendars state when service ends.
Nobody can tell when this feed will go stale.
Fix: Add feed_start_date and feed_end_date to feed_info.txt and include calendar end dates in your export. (Likely a one-time export setting.)
Validator rule: scorecard_no_expiry_date
- Warning4352 instances
4352 of 4352 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)
- Warning4352 instances
4352 of 4352 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)
- Warning241 instances
241 of 241 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)
- Warning3 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
A recommended GTFS file (usually feed_info.txt) is missing.
feed_info.txt tells apps who publishes the feed and when it expires; without it nobody is warned before data goes stale.
Fix: Add feed_info.txt with publisher name, URL, language, and feed_start_date/feed_end_date. (One small file, set once in export settings.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 13 observed fixes).
Validator rule: missing_recommended_file · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
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)
- 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
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
agency.txt has no working website URL.
Trip planners link riders to this URL for schedules and fares.
Fix: Set agency_url to your agency's website, starting with https://. (One field.)
Validator rule: scorecard_bad_agency_url
- Info241 instances
About 241 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)
- Info4 instances
Some files contain columns that are not part of the GTFS spec.
Harmless to riders, but apps ignore these columns and they can hide typos in real column names.
Fix: Check the flagged column names for misspellings of standard GTFS fields; remove them if they are vendor extras. (A quick look at the flagged files.)
Validator rule: unknown_column · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules 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)
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.
Trimmed surrounding whitespace 815 changes
For example: ' stop_name': ' Geneva' -> 'Geneva'
NTD certification readiness Not ready
Resolve this before you certify on the D-10. No service end date could be read, so currency is unknown.
- Published Ready
- Published at a public URL.
- Valid Ready
- Passes validation with no errors.
- Current Not ready
- No service end date could be read, so currency is unknown.
- agency_id matches your NTD ID Not aligned
- Your feed's agency_id is METRA; your National Transit Database ID is 50118. 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 50118 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. No service end date could be read. 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 Not yet
- No service end date could be read.
- 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.
- 241 of 241 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.
Below the Google and Apple Maps four-week coverage bar. This feed has no service end date, so Maps cannot tell how far ahead it runs. Set a feed_info end date and a calendar that covers at least the next four weeks, then re-export.
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 80 / 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 0 / 100
- The FTA National Transit Database expectation of a valid, current feed. Google Transit: an expired calendar drops the agency from Maps.
- Rider experience 15 / 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.
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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/metra-2854/2026-06-27.json and never overwritten, pinning the grade, category scores, rubric version, validator version, and the scored feed's sha256 as they stood on 2026-06-27. 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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