Valley Metro (VM)

Top things to fix

Score by category

Over time

Overall score across the last 21 checks — unchanged since 2026-07-08.

What changed since your last check

• Correctness— no change
• Freshness— no change
• Rider experience— no change
• Realtime quality— no change

What changed in this feed

Overall grade and score held steady 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 C. On 2026-06-26 the grade moved from C to D. On 2026-06-30 the grade moved from D to B. On 2026-07-01 the grade moved from B to C. As of 2026-07-09 it holds grade B.

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

• 2026-07-08 Grade went C to B.
• 2026-07-01 Grade went B to C.
• 2026-06-30 Grade went D to B, freshness rose 55 points.
• 2026-06-26 Grade went C to D.

Everything we checked

• Warning35993 instances

  35993 of 35993 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)

• Warning8027 instances

  8027 of 8027 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)

• Warning47 instances

  Same name and description for stop (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'same_name_and_description_for_stop' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: same_name_and_description_for_stop · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)

• Warning10 instances

  10 of 429 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)

• Warning2 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)

• Warning2 instances

  Route long name contains short name (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'route_long_name_contains_short_name' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: route_long_name_contains_short_name · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)

• Warning1 instance

  The feed contains no fare information.

  Riders see 'fare unknown' in trip planners and can't budget their trip; visitors are most affected.

  Fix: Add fare_attributes.txt (or Fares v2 files) with your fare structure. If your service is fare-free, ask to have it marked fare-free instead. (A small file for most flat-fare systems.)

  Validator rule: scorecard_no_fare_data · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Best Practices (opens GTFS Best Practices on an external site)

• Warning1 instance

  This feed models stations or entrances but has no pathways.txt.

  Trip planners can't guide riders through the station, and there is no step-free route information for wheelchair users.

  Fix: Add pathways.txt connecting entrances, platforms, and any elevators, with a level for each. (Worth it for multi-level or large stations; flat stops don't need it.)

  Validator rule: scorecard_station_no_pathways · Read the fix guide · See GTFS Schedule reference (opens the GTFS Schedule reference on an external site)

• Info56 instances

  Trip headsign matches intermediate stop (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'trip_headsign_matches_intermediate_stop' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: trip_headsign_matches_intermediate_stop · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)

• Info6 instances

  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)

• Info2 instances

  Platform without parent station (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'platform_without_parent_station' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Validator rule: platform_without_parent_station · See MobilityData GTFS Validator rules (opens the validator rules on an external site)

• Info1 instance

  Unknown file (flagged by the MobilityData validator).

  See the linked rule for what this affects.

  Fix: Review the rule documentation for 'unknown_file' at https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/rules.html and check the flagged rows in your feed. (Varies.)

  Agencies here usually clear this within about 1 week (based on 6 observed fixes).

  Validator rule: unknown_file · 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.

• 7901 stop name(s) use abbreviations or symbols a screen reader may mispronounce, with no spoken form set ("Bell Rd & 44th St", "Alice Av & 66th Dr", "Atlanta Av & 11th Av", and more).

  Consider: Add tts_stop_name with the spoken form, e.g. 'Main Street and Second Avenue', for the affected stops.

• This feed models stations or entrances but has no pathways.txt and levels.txt.

  Consider: Add pathways.txt connecting entrances, platforms, and elevators, and levels.txt for each floor, so the step-free route is described.

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.

• Trimmed surrounding whitespace 7941 changes

  For example: 'stop_lat': ' 33.640483' -> '33.640483'

• Recased shouting route names 3 changes

  For example: FLASH -> Flash

Download corrected feed