← shapes.txt, explained

Texas transit feeds and the NTD shapes.txt requirement.

Of the 21 Texas feeds this site tracks and has checked for shapes.txt, 20 carry a shape for every trip, 1 cover some trips, and 0 have no shapes yet.

What the requirement says

FTA's July 2025 final notice makes shapes.txt part of the GTFS that NTD reporters with fixed-route service publish: Full Reporters from Report Year 2025, and Reduced, Rural, and Tribal Reporters from Report Year 2026. The same notice makes agency_id a required field from Report Year 2025, where it had been required only when a feed names several agencies. This page does not say which reporter type a feed belongs to, and filing dates are FTA's to set: check your reporter type in your own NTD filing and the due date in FTA's NTD reporting calendar. See the shapes.txt explainer for the rule and its sources.

Tracked Texas feeds

Agencyshapes.txt agency_id
EZ RiderSome trips are missing a shape (280 of 288 trips have one)Provided in agency.txt
Amarillo City TransitEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Capital MetroEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
CitibusEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
City of LongviewEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Connect TransitEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Corpus Christi Regional Transportation AuthorityEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Dallas Host CommitteeEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
El Paso Transportation AuthorityEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Fort Worth Transit AuthorityEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Golden Crescent Commuter (Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
McKinney Avenue Transit AuthorityEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
METRO HoustonEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Metro McAllenEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
STAR TransitEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Sun MetroEvery trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Texarkana Urban Transit District (T-Line Bus)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
VIA Metropolitan Transit (VIA)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt
Victoria Transit (Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission)Every trip has a shapeProvided in agency.txt

FTA's notice describes shapes.txt as a file for each route. The shapes.txt column counts something simpler and stricter: whether every trip in trips.txt carries a shape_id that matches a path in shapes.txt. The agency_id column reads agency.txt only; the notice also names routes.txt and fare_attributes.txt. Each row reflects the feed's most recent scoring run. Absence from this list means a feed is not tracked here, not that it is out of compliance.

If your feed is on the list

Ask whoever builds your GTFS export for shapes.txt with trips.shape_id set to match, republish, and the next completed scoring run re-checks the feed. Two validator notices commonly follow new shapes: unused_shape and stop_too_far_from_shape.

Not tracked here? Paste your feed's URL to grade it in about a minute, or run the pre-publish check on an export you have not published yet; that one reads the zip in your browser and uploads nothing.

This page is a data-quality heads-up, not an official compliance determination or legal advice. The official record is each agency's own NTD filing and annual D-10 certification. Source: NTD reporting changes for report years 2025 and 2026.