Call-prep brief · checked 2026-09-13

New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Rail

Grade F · 54.6 / 100

Unchanged since 2026-09-12.

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 no change
Rider experience no change

Top three things to fix

Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists.
Some trips have stop times whose distances along the route go backwards. Apps can show transit vehicles jumping backwards or mis-order stops.
Effort: Usually an export-tool fix, not hand editing.
Set wheelchair_boarding to 1 (accessible) or 2 (not accessible) for every stop. A field survey can start with the busiest stops.
229 of 229 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.
Effort: A column in stops.txt; your scheduling software likely has it.
Set wheelchair_accessible on every trip. If every vehicle is accessible, this may be one default; otherwise use the value for each trip.
3334 of 3334 trips don't say whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible. Even with accessible stops, riders need to know the transit vehicle itself can take them.
Effort: A default or per-trip field in your export.

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: Some trips have stop times whose distances along the route go backwards.
Next action: Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists.
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: New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Rail
Finding: decreasing_or_equal_stop_time_distance
Feed evidence: Some trips have stop times whose distances along the route go backwards.
Why it matters: Apps can show transit vehicles jumping backwards or mis-order stops.
Requested change: Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists.
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/new-jersey-transit-nj-transit-509/?finding=decreasing_or_equal_stop_time_distance#finding-handoff

NTD GTFS readiness: Needs attention

This feed is close to NTD-ready. 1 validator error to resolve.

Published Ready: Published at a public URL.
Valid Needs attention: 1 validator error to resolve.
Current Ready: Service data covers the next 167 days.
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 NJB, NJT; your National Transit Database ID is 20080. 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 NJB, NJT to NTD ID 20080, and keep the feed value stable. Do not change it solely to make the two values equal.

Key facts

Feed URL: https://www.njtransit.com/rail_data.zip
Last checked: 2026-09-13
Service window: 167 days of service data remain. Last service date 2027-02-27.
Location: New Jersey

Part of the New Jersey 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 v1.3, validator 8.0.1.