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Feed status · checked 2026-07-09
Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)
Based on the feed this agency publishes
down 0.4 since 2026-07-08
Ahead of 27% of all tracked agencies and 40% of large agencies. Operates in California.
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.
Checked for changes 14 minutes ago; last changed 18 days ago.
Top things to fix
Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists.Likely your export tool
Some trips have stop times whose distances along the route go backwards. Apps can show buses jumping backwards or mis-order stops.
⏱ Usually an export-tool fix, not hand editing.worth about +24 points
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.
⏱ Usually a vendor support ticket.worth about +8 points
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 9 observed fixes).
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.
⏱ Usually a vendor support ticket.worth about +8 points
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
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.
Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists.
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.
Check the vehicle positions endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. · 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.
Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. · 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 8 kinds of issue across 70354 instances (222 error, 61594 warning, 8538 informational).
Service data covers the next 30 days.
0% of stops state wheelchair accessibility (0% marked accessible, 0% marked not accessible). This measures what the feed publishes, not whether a stop is physically usable. Fare data is published.
0% of stops state accessibility (0% marked accessible). Reflects what the feed states, not verified physical usability.
Fares are applied to trips.
Sampled 9 times: 1 of 3 feeds healthy; 95.0% of scheduled trips had live predictions; predictions ran a median of 68s behind schedule.
Over time
Overall score across the last 20 checks — down 0.4 since 2026-07-08.
Show the numbers
| Check | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | 53.2 | first check |
| 2026-06-20 | 52.8 | down 0.4 |
| 2026-06-21 | 52.2 | down 0.6 |
| 2026-06-22 | 52.2 | no change |
| 2026-06-23 | 51.9 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-06-24 | 51.5 | down 0.4 |
| 2026-06-25 | 51.1 | down 0.4 |
| 2026-06-26 | 50.8 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-06-27 | 50.7 | down 0.1 |
| 2026-06-28 | 50.4 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-06-29 | 50.1 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-06-30 | 49.7 | down 0.4 |
| 2026-07-01 | 49.4 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-07-02 | 49.1 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-07-04 | 48.4 | down 0.7 |
| 2026-07-05 | 48.1 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-07-06 | 47.7 | down 0.4 |
| 2026-07-07 | 47.4 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-07-08 | 47.1 | down 0.3 |
| 2026-07-09 | 46.7 | down 0.4 |
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 F. On 2026-07-09 feed entered the expiry window (30 days of service left). As of 2026-07-09 it holds grade F.
A plain-language history of this feed, newest first.
- 2026-07-09 Feed entered the expiry window (30 days of service left).
Everything we checked
- Error222 instances
Some trips have stop times whose distances along the route go backwards.
Apps can show buses jumping backwards or mis-order stops.
Fix: Re-generate shape distances in your export; flag to your vendor if it persists. (Usually an export-tool fix, not hand editing.)
Validator rule: decreasing_or_equal_stop_time_distance · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Error1 instance
The vehicle positions realtime feed failed during sampling.
When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
Fix: Check the vehicle positions endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. (Usually a vendor support ticket.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 9 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_rt_vehicle_positions_unreachable · Read the fix guide · See GTFS-Realtime reference (opens the GTFS-Realtime reference on an external site)
- Error1 instance
The service alerts realtime feed failed during sampling.
When this feed is down, riders see scheduled times presented as if they were live.
Fix: Check the service alerts endpoint with your AVL vendor; it should return a fresh GTFS-Realtime protobuf on every request. (Usually a vendor support ticket.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 5 observed fixes).
Validator rule: scorecard_rt_service_alerts_unreachable · Read the fix guide · See GTFS-Realtime reference (opens the GTFS-Realtime reference on an external site)
- Warning48309 instances
Some scheduled trips travel implausibly fast between stops.
Usually a typo'd stop time; riders get impossible arrival estimates.
Fix: Check the flagged stop times for transposed minutes. (A few minutes per flagged trip.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 2 weeks (based on 6 observed fixes).
Validator rule: fast_travel_between_consecutive_stops · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning13108 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)
- Warning7936 instances
7936 of 7936 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)
- Warning5247 instances
5247 of 5247 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)
- Warning172 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.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 11 observed fixes).
Validator rule: stop_without_stop_time · Read the fix guide · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Warning38 instances
38 of 7936 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)
- Warning6 instances
6 of 121 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)
- Warning4 instances
Some stops sit far from the route line they belong to.
Trip planners may draw the bus route through the wrong streets or point riders to the wrong corner.
Fix: Check the flagged stops' coordinates and the route shape in your scheduling software; re-snap whichever is misplaced. (A few minutes per flagged stop.)
Agencies here usually clear this within about 2 weeks (based on 6 observed fixes).
Validator rule: stop_too_far_from_shape · Read the fix guide · 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)
- Info7936 instances
Trip with shape dist traveled but no shape distances (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'trip_with_shape_dist_traveled_but_no_shape_distances' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: trip_with_shape_dist_traveled_but_no_shape_distances · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)
- Info5245 instances
About 5245 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)
- Info602 instances
Unsorted stop times (flagged by the MobilityData validator).
See the linked rule for what this affects.
Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'unsorted_stop_times' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)
Validator rule: unsorted_stop_times · 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.
4 route badge(s) pair a color and text color below the WCAG 4.5:1 contrast bar (453, 472, 473, 480).
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.
9 stop name(s) use abbreviations or symbols a screen reader may mispronounce, with no spoken form set ("ANAHEIM-CENTER ST PROMENADE", "WEST PELTASON-@ UCI CRAWFORD HALL", "WEST PELTASON-@ UCI CRAWFORD HALL", 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 5245 changes
For example: HASTER-ORANGEWOOD -> Haster-orangewood
NTD certification readiness Needs attention
This feed is close to NTD-ready. 1 validator error to resolve. Service data runs out in 30 days; renew before you certify.
- Published Ready
- Published at a public URL.
- Valid Needs attention
- 1 validator error to resolve.
- Current Needs attention
- Service data runs out in 30 days; renew before you certify.
- agency_id matches your NTD ID Not aligned
- Your feed's agency_id is 1; your National Transit Database ID is 90036. A feed that serves several agencies (a shared regional feed) can legitimately carry more than one agency_id, so a difference here is a heads-up, not an error. Optionally set the agency_id for your service to 90036 in agency.txt (and the matching agency_id in routes.txt) so the feed lines up with your NTD record. It is a convenience, not a required feed change: FTA also links agency_id to your NTD ID on your P-50 form.
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. 1 validator error to resolve. Service data runs out in 30 days; renew to qualify. States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 0% of trips; the mark needs 90% of each.
- Valid Not yet
- 1 validator error to resolve.
- Current Not yet
- Service data runs out in 30 days; renew to qualify.
- Accessible Not yet
- States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 0% 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.
- 172 of 5247 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 105 checks over the last 16 days, with 0s median lag.
Sampled on a schedule between full scores, so this tracks uptime and freshness over time rather than at a single moment.
Prediction accuracy
Arrival predictions ran a median 68s late versus the schedule, and stayed within 406s nine times in ten. They were on time (about a minute early to five late) 73.9% of the time.
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 30 days of service ahead, clearing the four-week (28-day) window Maps asks for. The feed also carries 222 validator errors, the other thing Maps checks at onboarding; the findings below name each fix.
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.
In California, the published guideline is California Transit Data Guidelines. Caltrans' published quality guidelines and compliance checklist; this rubric is anchored to them.
California Minimum GTFS Guidelines checklist (2 of 5 measured items met)
The state's own Data Process Checklist, matched item by item to what this scorecard already measures. An item marked "not measured here" is real ground the checklist covers that this tool does not check; see the official checklist for the full picture.
- Meets Publish GTFS Schedule at a stable, automatically-fetchable URL
The published feed URL downloaded at the last check.
- Not measured here Implement required fields: Fares v2, text-to-speech stop names, shapes.txt, wheelchair_boarding, and Pathways where applicable
This scorecard measures wheelchair_boarding, shapes.txt coverage, fare data, and station pathways separately, below; it does not check the Fares v2 format specifically or text-to-speech stop names.
- Not measured here Achieve a passing score in every category of the MobilityData GTFS Grading Scheme v1
This scorecard automates a proxy for the Grading Scheme's rider-facing fields (see the standards crosswalk) rather than running the scheme itself, which grades by comparison to the real world by hand.
- Not measured here Publish changes to the base schedule at least one week ahead of every service change
This scorecard does not track a feed's publish history, so advance notice cannot be checked.
- Gap Produce no critical errors in the MobilityData GTFS Validator
1 validator error to resolve.
- Not measured here Publish Trip Updates, Vehicle Positions, and Alerts feeds
This scorecard checks realtime reachability and freshness overall; it does not check for all three feed types individually.
- Not measured here Update Trip Updates and Vehicle Positions at least every 20 seconds
This scorecard samples realtime freshness; it does not check this specific 20-second cadence.
- Not measured here Publish information for at least 99% of vehicles in service
This scorecard measures the share of scheduled trips represented in TripUpdates, a related but different figure than vehicle coverage.
- Not measured here Keep 100% of trip_ids consistent between Schedule and Realtime
This scorecard does not currently check trip_id consistency between the Schedule and Realtime feeds.
- Not measured here Produce no critical errors in the Center for Urban Transportation Research realtime validator
This scorecard does not run the CUTR realtime validator.
- Not measured here Publish accessible feed links on the agency or regional partner website
This scorecard does not check the agency's own website.
- Not measured here Register GTFS and GTFS-Realtime feeds with transit.land and the Mobility Database
This scorecard does not currently check aggregator registration for this section.
- Gap Designate a technical contact in feed_info.txt's feed_contact_email
feed_info.txt has no feed_contact_email or feed_contact_url.
- Gap wheelchair_boarding stated on stops and trips
States wheelchair access on 0% of stops and 0% of trips.
- Not measured here shapes.txt with a shape for every trip
Shape coverage has not been measured for this feed.
- Meets Fare data published, or the service marked fare-free
Fare data is published.
- Correctness 42 / 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 35 / 100
- The FTA National Transit Database expectation of a valid, current feed. Google Transit: an expired calendar drops the agency from Maps.
- Rider experience 37 / 100
- GTFS Best Practices for rider-facing fields. MobilityData grading: stop names and headsigns.
- Realtime quality 78 / 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/orange-county-transportation-authority-octa/2026-07-09.json and never overwritten, pinning the grade, category scores, rubric version, validator version, and the scored feed's sha256 as they stood on 2026-07-09. 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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