Fix: stops that no trip ever serves

Published: 3 July 2026. Last reviewed: 3 July 2026.

Code: stop_without_stop_time (MobilityData validator)

What this means

Some stops in stops.txt are never referenced in stop_times.txt, so no scheduled trip stops there. The stop exists in the feed but nothing arrives.

Why it matters

A rider can find one of these stops in a trip planner or on a map and walk to a corner where no bus is scheduled to come. It also tends to mean the feed is carrying retired stops the export never cleaned up.

How to fix it

First decide which case each stop is:

• A retired stop that should no longer be published: remove it from the export. Many tools have a "do not export unused stops" option, or you remove the stop record at the source.
• A stop that should be served but was dropped from its trips by mistake: add it back to the trips that should serve it, so it gets stop_times entries again.

A stop that is a parent station or a boarding area referenced by other stops is a different case and is not flagged by this notice.

How long it usually takes

A review pass in your scheduling software. The count tells you how big the pass is; a handful is minutes, dozens is an afternoon of cleanup.

Authoritative rule

stop_without_stop_time is a canonical MobilityData GTFS Validator notice used in validator reports across the GTFS ecosystem. Read the authoritative rule for stop_without_stop_time in the GTFS Validator rules. (opens on an external site)