Call-prep brief · checked 2026-10-07

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)

Grade D · 62.2 / 100

Down 0.4 points since 2026-10-06 (D to D).

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

Top three things to fix

Re-export with a validity window that reaches at least 60 days out.
Service data runs out in 18 day(s). When the calendar runs out, trip planners stop showing this agency. Fixing it now is calmer than after riders notice.
This one is about the feed as a whole, so there is no share of it to count.
Effort: One export setting.
Use mixed case for stop names and headsigns (e.g. 'Main St & 2nd Ave', not 'MAIN ST & 2ND AVE').
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.
This is a validator notice, and the validator decides what each instance covers, so no share of the network can be read from it here.
Effort: Often a bulk fix in your scheduling software.
Check the flagged stop times for transposed minutes.
Some scheduled trips move faster between stops than a transit vehicle can. Usually a typo'd stop time; riders get arrival times no transit vehicle can meet.
This is a validator notice, and the validator decides what each instance covers, so no share of the network can be read from it here.
Effort: A few minutes per flagged trip.

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: Service data runs out in 18 day(s).
Next action: Re-export with a validity window that reaches at least 60 days out.
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: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
Finding: scorecard_feed_expiring_soon
Feed evidence: Service data runs out in 18 day(s).
Why it matters: When the calendar runs out, trip planners stop showing this agency. Fixing it now is calmer than after riders notice.
Requested change: Re-export with a validity window that reaches at least 60 days out.
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/santa-clara-valley-transportation-authority-vta/?finding=scorecard_feed_expiring_soon#finding-handoff

Ready to send to the agency

Hi Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) team, Service data runs out in 18 day(s). When the calendar runs out, trip planners stop showing this agency. Fixing it now is calmer than after riders notice. The fix is usually one export setting: Re-export with a validity window that reaches at least 60 days out. This came from your GTFS data quality scorecard, which checks the feed you publish and lists the fixes in plain language: https://gtfsscorecard.org/agency/santa-clara-valley-transportation-authority-vta/

Copy this note from the full scorecard.

NTD GTFS readiness: Needs attention

This feed is close to NTD-ready. Service data runs out in 18 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 18 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 VTA; your National Transit Database ID is 90013. 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 VTA to NTD ID 90013, 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://gtfs.vta.org/gtfs_vta.zip
Last checked: 2026-10-07
Service window: 18 days of service data remain. Last service date 2026-10-25.
Feed version: 2026-08-27_10:32
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.