MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA)

Top things to fix

Score by category

Over time

Overall score across the last 20 checks — unchanged since 2026-07-08.

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.

What changed over time

On 2026-06-19 this feed started at grade D. On 2026-06-23 the grade moved from D to F. On 2026-07-01 the grade moved from F to C. On 2026-06-25 feed entered the expiry window (30 days of service left). As of 2026-07-09 it holds grade C.

A plain-language history of this feed, newest first.

• 2026-07-01 Grade went F to C, freshness rose 58 points.
• 2026-06-25 Feed entered the expiry window (30 days of service left).
• 2026-06-23 Grade went D to F.

Everything we checked

• Warning707 instances

  707 of 707 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)

• Warning126 instances

  126 of 126 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

  Same name and description for route (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'same_name_and_description_for_route' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: same_name_and_description_for_route · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)

• Warning1 instance

  Leading or trailing whitespaces (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'leading_or_trailing_whitespaces' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: leading_or_trailing_whitespaces · 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

  feed_info.txt is missing its start/end dates (the file itself is absent)

  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)

• Warning1 instance

  1 of 707 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)

• 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)

Beyond the grade

Opportunities that do not change your grade today: fare detail, on-demand service, and deeper accessibility data.

• 18 route badge(s) pair a color and text color below the WCAG 4.5:1 contrast bar (05, 15, 04N, 02, 07, 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.

• 46 stop name(s) use abbreviations or symbols a screen reader may mispronounce, with no spoken form set ("Banana Lot/Intermodal Center", "Normandy Rd", "Water St & Nicholas Rd", and more).

  Consider: Add tts_stop_name with the spoken form, e.g. 'Main Street and Second Avenue', for the affected stops.

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 1 change

  For example: 'route_desc': 'Waverly St Natick Mall Shoppers World MetroWest Medical ' -> 'Waverly St Natick Mall Shoppers World MetroWest Medical'

Run it yourself on your own copy of the feed: scorecard autofix <feed.zip> --out corrected.zip