Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS)

Top things to fix

Score by category

Over time

Overall score across the last 20 checks — down 0.4 since 2026-07-08.

What changed since your last check

• Correctness— no change
• Freshness▼ down 1.7
• Rider experience— no change
• Realtime quality— no change

What changed in this feed

Overall score fell 0.4 points 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 2026-06-21 the grade moved from D to C. On 2026-06-24 the grade moved from C to D. As of 2026-07-09 it holds grade D.

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

• 2026-06-24 Grade went C to D.
• 2026-06-21 Grade went D to C.

Everything we checked

• Warning990767 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)

• Warning19789 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)

• Warning19100 instances

  19100 of 19100 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)

• Warning3694 instances

  3694 of 3694 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)

• Warning616 instances

  616 of 19100 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)

• Warning37 instances

  37 of 152 trips scheduled during the sampling window had no live predictions.

  Riders on those trips get schedule data dressed up as realtime. Caltrans expects every operating trip in TripUpdates.

  Fix: Check with your AVL vendor that every vehicle assignment flows into TripUpdates, including school-day and tripper runs. (A vendor data-mapping question.)

  Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 82 observed fixes).

  Validator rule: scorecard_rt_trip_coverage · Read the fix guide · See GTFS-Realtime reference (opens the GTFS-Realtime reference on an external site)

• Warning7 instances

  Some files leave out fields that GTFS asks for but does not require.

  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 file GTFS asks for (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)

• Info3630 instances

  About 3630 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)

• Info1 instance

  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)

Beyond the grade

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

• 1 route badge(s) pair a color and text color below the WCAG 4.5:1 contrast bar (92).

  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.

• 3677 stop name(s) use abbreviations or symbols a screen reader may mispronounce, with no spoken form set ("GREENFIELD & S101", "ATKINSON & ROOSEVELT", "S27 & S3744", 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.

• Recased shouting stop names 3630 changes

  For example: GREENFIELD & S101 -> Greenfield & S101

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