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Feed status · checked 2026-07-10
Metro Transit - City of Madison
Based on the feed this agency publishes
First scorecard for this agency
Ahead of 92% of all tracked agencies and 97% of large 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.
Top things to fix
Use mixed case for stop names and headsigns (e.g. 'Main St & 2nd Ave', not 'MAIN ST & 2ND AVE').Likely your export tool
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.
⏱ Often a bulk fix in your scheduling software.worth about +8 points
Remove retired stops from the export, or add them back to the trips that should serve them.Likely your export tool
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.
⏱ A review pass in your scheduling software.worth about +6 points
Remove past service periods the next time you export the feed.Likely your export tool
Some service calendars in the feed have already expired. Expired calendars are dead weight and can hide real schedule problems from your staff and vendors.
⏱ One setting in most export tools.worth about +4 points
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.
Use mixed case for stop names and headsigns (e.g. 'Main St & 2nd Ave', not 'MAIN ST & 2ND AVE'). · 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.
Remove retired stops from the export, or add them back to the trips that should serve them. · 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.
Remove past service periods the next time you export the feed. · 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 3497 instances (0 error, 3477 warning, 20 informational).
Service data covers the next 36 days.
88% of stops state wheelchair accessibility (88% marked accessible, 0% marked not accessible). This measures what the feed publishes, not whether a stop is physically usable. Fare data is published.
88% of stops state accessibility (88% marked accessible). Reflects what the feed states, not verified physical usability.
Fares are applied to trips.
Sampled 9 times: 3 of 3 feeds healthy; 100.0% of scheduled trips had live predictions; 100.0% of vehicles on their route; predictions ran a median of 0s behind schedule.
Over time
This is the first scorecard for this agency. A trend and a "what changed" summary appear here once it has been checked more than once.
Everything we checked
- Warning3454 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)
- Warning206 instances
206 of 1684 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)
- Warning21 instances
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.)
Validator rule: stop_without_stop_time · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning2 instances
Some service calendars in the feed have already expired.
Expired calendars are dead weight and can hide real schedule problems from your staff and vendors.
Fix: Remove past service periods the next time you export the feed. (One setting in most export tools.)
Validator rule: expired_calendar · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning1 instance
This feed models stations or entrances but has no pathways.txt.
Trip planners can't guide riders through the station, and there is no step-free route information for wheelchair users.
Fix: Add pathways.txt connecting entrances, platforms, and any elevators, with a level for each. (Worth it for multi-level or large stations; flat stops don't need it.)
Validator rule: scorecard_station_no_pathways · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Schedule reference (opens the GTFS Schedule reference on an external site)
- Info14 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)
- Info5 instances
Unknown file (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'unknown_file' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: unknown_file · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Info1 instance
Big gap in service (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'big_gap_in_service' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: big_gap_in_service · 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.
13 route badge(s) pair a color and text color below the WCAG 4.5:1 contrast bar (28, 38, 55, 64, 65, and more).
Consider: Adjust route_color or route_text_color so each pair clears 4.5:1. Often switching the text between black and white is enough.
This feed models stations or entrances but has no pathways.txt and levels.txt.
Consider: Add pathways.txt connecting entrances, platforms, and elevators, and levels.txt for each floor, so the step-free route is described.
NTD GTFS 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 36 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 88% 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 36 days.
- Accessible Not yet
- States wheelchair access on 88% 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.
Can riders use it?
Checks beyond structural validation: places where the feed is valid but a rider still could not travel.
- 21 of 1665 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 1 checks, with 9s median lag.
Sampled on a schedule between full scores, so this tracks uptime and freshness over time rather than at a single moment.
Live predictions vs schedule
Arrival predictions ran right on the schedule, and stayed within 204s nine times in ten. They were on time (about a minute early to five late) 81.8% 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 36 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 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 60 / 100
- The FTA National Transit Database expectation of a valid, current feed. Google Transit: an expired calendar drops the agency from Maps.
- Rider experience 97 / 100
- GTFS Best Practices for rider-facing fields. MobilityData grading: stop names and headsigns.
- Realtime quality 100 / 100
- 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/metro-transit-city-of-madison-394/2026-07-10.json and never overwritten, pinning the grade, category scores, rubric version, validator version, and the scored feed's sha256 as they stood on 2026-07-10. 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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