Call-prep brief · checked 2026-10-07

Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST)

Grade F · 58.6 / 100

Down 0.3 points since 2026-10-06 (F to F).

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 no change

Top three things to fix

Check the trip updates endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
The trip updates realtime feed failed during sampling. When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
This was measured over a realtime sampling window, so it has no feed-wide share.
Effort: Usually a vendor support ticket.
Check the vehicle positions endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
The vehicle positions realtime feed failed during sampling. When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
This was measured over a realtime sampling window, so it has no feed-wide share.
Effort: Usually a vendor support ticket.
Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
The service alerts realtime feed failed during sampling. When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
This was measured over a realtime sampling window, so it has no feed-wide share.
Effort: Usually a vendor support ticket.

Riders and need behind these fixes

No ridership snapshot was on hand when this was built, so annual rider-trips are not known.
California as a whole measures lower on transit need. That is a statewide reading, not one for this feed's service area. Source: US Census ACS 5-year 2022, statewide overlay, as of 2026-10-05.

These describe this feed only. They do not rank agencies, and they do not change the grade or the order of the fixes.

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: The trip updates realtime feed failed during sampling.
Next action: Check the trip updates endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
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

Agency: Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST)
Finding: scorecard_rt_trip_updates_unreachable
Feed evidence: The trip updates realtime feed failed during sampling.
Why it matters: When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
Requested change: Check the trip updates endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request.
Recheck: Publish the changed feed at the same URL. On the next complete, comparable scorecard run, confirm that this finding is no longer reported.
Evidence: https://gtfsscorecard.org/agency/monterey-salinas-transit-mst/?finding=scorecard_rt_trip_updates_unreachable#finding-handoff

NTD GTFS readiness: Needs attention

This feed is close to NTD-ready. Service data runs out in 30 days; renew before you certify.

Published Ready: Published at a public URL.
Valid Ready: Passes validation with no errors.
Current Needs attention: Service data runs out in 30 days; renew before you certify.
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 Monterey-Salinas Transit; your National Transit Database ID is 90062. 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 Monterey-Salinas Transit to NTD ID 90062, and keep the feed value stable. Do not change it solely to make the two values equal.

The bar this score answers to

The published guideline in California is California Transit Data Guidelines. Caltrans' published quality guidelines and compliance checklist; this rubric is anchored to them.

Key facts

Feed URL: https://www.mst.org/google/google_transit.zip
Last checked: 2026-10-07
Service window: 30 days of service data remain. Last service date 2026-11-06.
Feed version: 202603v11
Location: California

Part of the California portfolio: see where this agency sits among the other feeds in that group before the call.

A data-quality and completeness read to support an agency conversation. Not an official compliance determination. Rubric v1.4, validator 8.0.1.