RULES.md

Implemented notices

This document lists all the notices that are emitted by this validator.
For an overview what changed in each validator release, please refer to NOTICE_MIGRATION.md.

Definitions

A Rule

A part of the specification that is translated into code in the validator. A Rule will describe if a set of conditions is met or not. For example:

• In the specification: in the stops.txt file, the field zone_id is required if providing fare information using fare_rules.txt (source in the specification).
• In the validator: this is translated into code in the file StopZoneIdValidator.java.

A Notice

The output that the user will see if the conditions aren’t met.

• For example, the output of StopZoneIdValidator.java is the Notice stop_without_zone_id.

The Severity of a Notice

Each Notice is associated with a severity: INFO, WARNING, ERROR.

• ERROR notices are for GTFS Schedule Reference violations. These are items that the GTFS Schedule Reference explicitly requires or prohibits (using the language "must").
• WARNING notices are for GTFS Schedule Best Practices. These are items that the GTFS Schedule Reference explicitly recommends (using the language "should"), or items mentioned in the official GTFS Schedule Best Practices.
• INFO notices are for items that may affect the feed's quality. They are unexpected finds that should be brought to the user's attention.

⚠️ Please note that this validator also generates System Errors that give information about things that may have gone wrong during the validation process such as the inability to unzip a GTFS file. These are generated in a second report system_errors.json.

Table of ERRORS

Notice code	Description
block_trips_with_overlapping_stop_times	Block trips with overlapping stop times.
csv_parsing_failed	Parsing of a CSV file failed.
decreasing_shape_distance	Decreasing shape_dist_traveled in shapes.txt.
decreasing_or_equal_stop_time_distance	Decreasing or equal shape_dist_traveled in stop_times.txt.
duplicated_column	Duplicated column in CSV.
duplicate_key	Duplicated entity.
empty_column_name	A column name is empty.
empty_file	A CSV file is empty.
equal_shape_distance_diff_coordinates	Two consecutive points have equal shape_dist_traveled and different lat/lon coordinates in shapes.txt.
fare_transfer_rule_duration_limit_type_without_duration_limit	A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined duration_limit_type field but no duration_limit specified.
fare_transfer_rule_duration_limit_without_type	A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined duration_limit field but no duration_limit_type specified.
fare_transfer_rule_invalid_transfer_count	A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined transfer_count with an invalid value.
fare_transfer_rule_missing_transfer_count	A row from fare_transfer_rules.txt has from_leg_group_id equal to to_leg_group_id, but has no transfer_count specified.
fare_transfer_rule_with_forbidden_transfer_count	A row from fare_transfer_rules.txt has from_leg_group_id not equal to to_leg_group_id, but has transfer_count specified.
foreign_key_violation	Wrong foreign key.
inconsistent_agency_timezone	Inconsistent Timezone among agencies.
invalid_color	A field contains an invalid color value.
invalid_currency	A field contains a wrong currency code.
invalid_currency_amount	A currency amount field has a value that does not match the format of its corresponding currency code field.
invalid_date	A field cannot be parsed as date.
invalid_email	A field contains a malformed email address.
invalid_float	A field cannot be parsed as a floating point number.
invalid_integer	A field cannot be parsed as an integer.
invalid_language_code	A field contains a wrong language code.
invalid_phone_number	A field contains a malformed phone number.
invalid_row_length	Invalid csv row length.
invalid_time	A field cannot be parsed as time.
invalid_timezone	A field cannot be parsed as a timezone.
invalid_url	A field contains a malformed URL.
location_without_parent_station	A location that must have parent_station field does not have it.
location_with_unexpected_stop_time	A location in stops.txt that is not a stop is referenced by some stop_times.stop_id.
missing_calendar_and_calendar_date_files	Missing GTFS files calendar.txt and calendar_dates.txt.
missing_level_id	stops.level_id is conditionally required.
missing_required_column	A required column is missing in the input file.
missing_required_field	A required field is missing.
missing_required_file	A required file is missing.
missing_stop_name	stops.stop_name is required for location_type equal to 0, 1, or 2.
missing_trip_edge	Missing trip edge arrival_time or departure_time.
new_line_in_value	New line or carriage return in a value in CSV file.
number_out_of_range	Out of range value.
overlapping_frequency	Trip frequencies overlap.
pathway_to_platform_with_boarding_areas	A pathway has an endpoint that is a platform which has boarding areas.
pathway_to_wrong_location_type	A pathway has an endpoint that is a station.
pathway_unreachable_location	A location is not reachable at least in one direction: from the entrances or to the exits.
point_near_origin	A point is too close to origin (0, 0).
point_near_pole	A point is too close to the North or South Pole.
route_both_short_and_long_name_missing	Missing route short name and long name.
start_and_end_range_equal	Two date or time fields are equal.
start_and_end_range_out_of_order	Two date or time fields are out of order.
station_with_parent_station	A station has parent_station field set.
stop_time_timepoint_without_times	arrival_time or departure_time not specified for timepoint.
stop_time_with_arrival_before_previous_departure_time	Backwards time travel between stops in stop_times.txt
stop_time_with_only_arrival_or_departure_time	Missing stop_times.arrival_time or stop_times.departure_time.
stop_without_location	stop_lat and/or stop_lon is missing for stop with location_type equal to0, 1, or 2
stop_without_zone_id	Stop without value for stops.zone_id.
too_many_rows	A CSV file has too many rows.
transfer_with_invalid_stop_location_type	A stop id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a stop that has a location_type other than 0 or 1 (aka Stop/Platform or Station).
transfer_with_invalid_trip_and_route	A trip id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a route that does not match its trips.txt route_id.
transfer_with_invalid_trip_and_stop	A trip id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a stop that is not included in the referenced trip's stop-times.
translation_foreign_key_violation	An entity with the given record_id and record_sub_id cannot be found in the referenced table.
translation_unexpected_value	A field in a translations row has value but must be empty.
wrong_parent_location_type	Incorrect type of the parent location.

Table of WARNINGS

Notice code	Description
attribution_without_role	Attribution with no role.
duplicate_fare_media	Two distinct fare media have the same fare media name and type.
duplicate_route_name	Two distinct routes have either the same route_short_name, the same route_long_name, or the same combination of route_short_name and route_long_name.
empty_row	A row in the input file has only spaces.
equal_shape_distance_same_coordinates	Two consecutive points have equal shape_dist_traveled and the same lat/lon coordinates in shapes.txt.
expired_calendar	Dataset should not contain date ranges for services that have already expired.
fast_travel_between_consecutive_stops	A transit vehicle moves too fast between two consecutive stops.
fast_travel_between_far_stops	A transit vehicle moves too fast between two far stops.
feed_expiration_date7_days	Dataset should be valid for at least the next 7 days.
feed_expiration_date30_days	Dataset should cover at least the next 30 days of service.
feed_info_lang_and_agency_lang_mismatch	Mismatching feed and agency language fields.
inconsistent_agency_lang	Inconsistent language among agencies.
leading_or_trailing_whitespaces	The value in CSV file has leading or trailing whitespaces.
missing_feed_info_date	feed_end_date should be provided if feed_start_date is provided. feed_start_date should be provided if feed_end_date is provided.
missing_recommended_file	A recommended file is missing.
missing_recommended_field	A recommended field is missing.
missing_timepoint_column	timepoint column is missing for a dataset.
missing_timepoint_value	stop_times.timepoint value is missing for a record.
mixed_case_recommended_field	This field has customer-facing text and should use Mixed Case (should contain upper and lower case letters).
more_than_one_entity	More than one row in CSV.
non_ascii_or_non_printable_char	Non ascii or non printable char in id.
pathway_dangling_generic_node	A generic node has only one incident location in a pathway graph.
pathway_loop	A pathway starts and ends at the same location.
platform_without_parent_station	A platform has no parent_station field set.
route_color_contrast	Insufficient route color contrast.
route_long_name_contains_short_name	Long name should not contain short name for a single route.
route_short_name_too_long	Short name of a route is too long (more than 12 characters).
same_name_and_description_for_route	Same name and description for route.
same_name_and_description_for_stop	Same name and description for stop.
same_route_and_agency_url	Same routes.route_url and agency.agency_url.
same_stop_and_agency_url	Same stops.stop_url and agency.agency_url.
same_stop_and_route_url	Same stops.stop_url and routes.route_url.
stop_has_too_many_matches_for_shape	Stop entry that has many potential matches to the trip's path of travel.
stops_match_shape_out_of_order	Two stop entries are different than their arrival-departure order defined by the shapes.txt
stop_too_far_from_shape	Stop too far from trip shape.
stop_too_far_from_shape_using_user_distance	Stop time too far from shape.
stop_without_stop_time	A stop in stops.txt is not referenced by any stop_times.stop_id.
transfer_with_suspicious_mid_trip_in_seat	A trip id field from GTFS file transfers.txt with an in-seat transfer type references a stop that is not in the expected position in the trip's stop-times.
translation_unknown_table_name	A translation references an unknown or missing GTFS table.
trip_coverage_not_active_for_next7_days	Trips data should be valid for at least the next seven days.
unexpected_enum_value	An enum has an unexpected value.
unusable_trip	Trips must have more than one stop to be usable.
unused_shape	Shape is not used in GTFS file trips.txt.
unused_trip	Trip is not be used in stop_times.txt

Table of INFOS

Notice code	Description
unknown_column	A column name is unknown.
unknown_file	A file is unknown.

Table of SYSTEM ERRORS

System error code	Description
i_o_error	Error in IO operation.
runtime_exception_in_loader_error	RuntimeException while loading GTFS dataset in memory.
runtime_exception_in_validator_error	RuntimeException while validating GTFS archive.
thread_execution_error	ExecutionException during multithreaded validation
u_r_i_syntax_error	A string could not be parsed as a URI reference.

More details - ERRORS

block_trips_with_overlapping_stop_times

Trips with the same block id have overlapping stop times.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• stops.txt specification
• trips.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumberA	The row number from trips.txt of the first faulty trip.	Long
tripIdA	The id of first faulty trip.	String
serviceIdA	The service id of the first faulty trip.	String
csvRowNumberB	The row number from trips.txt of the second faulty trip.	Long
tripIdB	The id of the other faulty trip.	String
serviceIdB	The service id of the other faulty trip.	String
blockId	The trips.block_id of the overlapping trip.	String
intersection	The overlapping period.	Date

Affected files

• stops.txt
• trips.txt

csv_parsing_failed

Parsing of a CSV file failed. One common case of the problem is when a cell value contains more than 4096 characters.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	Long
charIndex	The location of the last character read from before the error occurred.	Long
columnIndex	The column index where the exception occurred.	Integer
lineIndex	The line number where the exception occurred.	Long
message	The detailed message describing the error, and the internal state of the parser/writer.	String
parsedContent	The record number when the exception occurred.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

decreasing_shape_distance

When sorted by shape.shape_pt_sequence, two consecutive shape points must not have decreasing values for shape_dist_traveled.

References

• shapes.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
shapeId	The id of the faulty shape.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt.	Long
shapeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the faulty record.	Double
shapePtSequence	The faulty record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer
prevCsvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt of the previous shape point.	Long
prevShapeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the previous shape point.	Double
prevShapePtSequence	The previous record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer

Affected files

• shapes.txt

decreasing_or_equal_stop_time_distance

When sorted by stop_times.stop_sequence, two consecutive entries in stop_times.txt should have increasing distance, based on the field shape_dist_traveled. If the values are equal, this is considered as an error.

References

• stops_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripId	The id of the faulty trip.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number from stop_times.txt.	Long
shapeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the faulty record.	Double
stopSequence	The faulty record's stop_times.stop_sequence.	Integer
prevCsvRowNumber	The row number from stop_times.txt of the previous stop time.	Long
prevStopTimeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the previous stop time.	Double
prevStopSequence	The previous record's stop_times.stop_sequence.	Integer

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

duplicated_column

The input file CSV header has the same column name repeated.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• Dataset files requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
fieldName	The name of the faulty field.	String
firstIndex	Index of the first occurrence.	Integer
secondIndex	Index of the other occurrence.	Integer

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

duplicate_key

The values of the given key and rows are duplicates.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• Dataset files requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file	String
oldCsvRowNumber	The row of the first occurrence.	Long
newCsvRowNumber	The row of the other occurrence.	Long
fieldName1	Composite key's first field name.	String
fieldValue1	Composite key's first value.	Object
fieldName2	Composite key's second field name.	String
fieldValue2	Composite key's second value.	Object

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

empty_column_name

A column name has not been provided. Such columns are skipped by the validator.

References

• GTFS file requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
index	The index of the empty column.	Integer

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

empty_file

Empty csv file found in the archive: file does not have any headers, or is a required file and does not have any data. The GTFS specification requires the first line of each file to contain field names and required files must have data.

References

• GTFS files requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

equal_shape_distance_diff_coordinates

When sorted by shape.shape_pt_sequence, the values for shape_dist_traveled must increase along a shape. Two consecutive points with equal values for shape_dist_traveled and different coordinates indicate an error.

References

• shapes.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
shapeId	The id of the faulty shape.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt.	Long
shapeDistTraveled	The faulty record's shape_dist_traveled value.	Double
shapePtSequence	The faulty record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer
prevCsvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt of the previous shape point.	Long
prevShapeDistTraveled	The previous shape point's shape_dist_traveled value.	Double
prevShapePtSequence	The previous record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer
actualDistanceBetweenShapePoints	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the previous shape point.	Double

Affected files

• stops.txt
• shapes.txt

fare_transfer_rule_duration_limit_type_without_duration_limit

A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined duration_limit_type field but no duration_limit specified.

References

• GTFS fare_transfer_rules.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• fare_transfer_rules.txt

fare_transfer_rule_duration_limit_without_type

A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined duration_limit field but no duration_limit_type specified.

References

• GTFS fare_transfer_rules.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• fare_transfer_rules.txt

fare_transfer_rule_invalid_transfer_count

A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has a defined transfer_count with an invalid value.

References

• GTFS fare_transfer_rules.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
transferCount	The transfer count value of the faulty record.	Integer

Affected files

• fare_transfer_rules.txt

fare_transfer_rule_missing_transfer_count

A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has from_leg_group_id equal to to_leg_group_id, but has no transfer_count specified. Per the spec, transfer_count is required if the two leg group ids are equal.

References

• GTFS fare_transfer_rules.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• fare_transfer_rules.txt

fare_transfer_rule_with_forbidden_transfer_count

A row from GTFS file fare_transfer_rules.txt has from_leg_group_id not equal to to_leg_group_id, but has transfer_count specified. Per the spec, transfer_count is forbidden if the two leg group ids are not equal.

References

• GTFS fare_transfer_rules.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• fare_transfer_rules.txt

foreign_key_violation

A foreign key references the primary key of another file. A foreign key violation means that the foreign key referenced from a given row (the child file) cannot be found in the corresponding file (the parent file). The Foreign keys are defined in the specification under "Type" for each file.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• GTFS files requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
childFilename	The name of the file from which reference is made.	String
childFieldName	The name of the field that makes reference.	String
parentFilename	The name of the file that is referred to.	String
parentFieldName	The name of the field that is referred to.	String
fieldValue	The faulty record's value.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• attributions.txt
• fare_attributes.txt
• fare_rules.txt
• frequencies.txt
• pathways.txt
• routes.txt
• stops.txt
• stop_times.txt
• tranfers.txt
• trips.txt

inconsistent_agency_timezone

Agencies from GTFS agency.txt have been found to have different timezones.

References

• GTFS agency.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
expected	Expected timezone.	String
actual	Faulty record's timezone.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt

invalid_color

Value of field with type color is not valid. A color must be encoded as a six-digit hexadecimal number. The leading "#" is not included.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

invalid_currency

Value of field with type currency is not valid. Currency code must follow ISO 4217

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• fare_attributes.txt

invalid_currency_amount

A currency amount field has a value that does not match the format (e.g. expected number of decimal places) of its corresponding currency code field. The number of decimal places is specified by ISO 4217.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
amount	Faulty currency amount value.	String

Affected files

• fare_products.txt

invalid_date

Value of field with type date is not valid. Dates must have the YYYYMMDD format.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• calendar.txt
• calendar_dates.txt
• feed_info.txt

invalid_email

Value of field with type email is not valid. Definitions for valid emails are quite vague. We perform strict validation using the Apache Commons EmailValidator.

References

• Field Types Description
• Apache Commons EmailValidator

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• attributions.txt
• feed_info.txt
• translations.txt

invalid_float

Value of field with type float is not valid.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• fare_attributes.txt
• levels.txt
• pathways.txt
• shapes.txt
• stop_times.txt

invalid_integer

Value of field with type integer is not valid.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• fare_attributes.txt
• frequencies.txt
• pathways.txt
• routes.txt
• shapes.txt
• stop_times.txt
• transfers.txt

invalid_language_code

Value of field with type language is not valid. Language codes must follow IETF BCP 47.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• feed_info.txt
• translations.txt

invalid_phone_number

Value of field with type phone number is not valid. This rule uses the PhoneNumberUtil class to validate a phone number based on a country code. If no country code is provided in the parameters used to run the validator, this notice won't be emitted.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• feed_info.txt
• translations.txt

invalid_row_length

A row in the input file has a different number of values than specified by the CSV header.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• GTFS files requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
rowLength	The length of the faulty record.	Integer
headerCount	The number of column in the faulty file.	Intege

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

invalid_time

Value of field with type time is not valid. Time must be in the H:MM:SS, HH:MM:SS or HHH:MM:SS format.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• frequencies.txt
• stop_times.txt

invalid_timezone

Value of field with type timezone is not valid.Timezones are defined at www.iana.org. Timezone names never contain the space character but may contain an underscore. Refer to Wikipedia for a list of valid values.

References

• Field Types Description

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• stop_times.txt

invalid_url

Value of field with type url is not valid. Definitions for valid URLs are quite vague. We perform strict validation using the Apache Commons UrlValidator.

References

• Field Types Description
• Apache Commons UrlValidator

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• feed_info.txt
• routes.txt
• stops.txt
• translations.txt

location_without_parent_station

A location that must have parent_station field does not have it. The following location types must have parent_station: entrance, generic node, boarding_area.

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopName	The stops.stop_name of the faulty record.	String
locationType	The stops.location_type of the faulty record.	Integer

Affected files

• stops.txt

location_with_unexpected_stop_time

Referenced locations (using stop_times.stop_id) must be stops/platforms, i.e. their stops.location_type value must be 0 or empty.

References

• stop_times.txt GTFS specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stops.txt.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty record from stops.txt.	String
stopName	The stops.stop_name of the faulty record.	String
stopTimeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long

Affected files

• stops.txt
• stop_times.txt

missing_calendar_and_calendar_date_files

Both files calendar_dates.txt and calendar.txt are missing from the GTFS archive. At least one of the files must be provided.

References

• calendar.txt specification
• calendar_dates.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
N/A	N/A	N/A

Affected files

• calendar.txt
• calendar_dates.txt

missing_level_id

GTFS file levels.txt is required for elevator (pathway_mode=5). A row from stops.txt linked to an elevator pathway has no value for stops.level_id.

References

• levels.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty stop from stops.txt.	String
stopName	The name of the faulty stop from stops.txt.	String

Affected files

• levels.txt

missing_required_column

A required column is missing in the input file.

References

• GTFS terms definition

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
fieldName	The name of the missing column.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

missing_required_field

The given field has no value in some input row, even though values are required.

References

• GTFS terms definition

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	The name of the missing field.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

missing_required_file

A required file is missing. If this notice is triggered for every core file, it might be a problem with the input. To create a zip file from the GTFS .txt files: select all the .txt files, right-click, and compress. Do not compress the folder containing the files.

References

• GTFS terms definition

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

missing_stop_name

stops.stop_name is required for locations that are stops (location_type=0), stations (location_type=1) or entrances/exits (location_type=2).

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
locationType	stops.location_type of the faulty record.	Integer
stopId	The stops.stop_id of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• stops.txt

missing_trip_edge

First and last stop of a trip must define both arrival_time and departure_time fields.

References

• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
stopSequence	stops.stop_sequence of the faulty record.	Integer
tripId	The trips.trip_id of the faulty record.	String
specifiedField	Name of the missing field.	String

• trips.txt

new_line_in_value

A value in CSV file has a new line or carriage return.

References

• GTFS file requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Integer
fieldName	The name of the faulty field.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

number_out_of_range

The values in the given column of the input rows are out of range.

References

• GTFS file requirements
• Original Python validator implementation
• GTFS field types

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Integer
fieldName	The name of the faulty field.	String
fieldType	The type of the faulty field.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	Object

Affected files

• All GTFS files supported by the specification.

overlapping_frequency

Trip frequencies must not overlap in time

References

• frequencies.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
prevCsvRowNumber	The row number of the first frequency.	Long
prevEndTime	The first frequency end time.	String
currCsvRowNumber	The overlapping frequency's row number.	Long
currStartTime	The overlapping frequency's start time.	String
tripId	The trip id associated to the first frequency.	String

Affected files

• frequencies.txt

pathway_to_platform_with_boarding_areas

A pathway has an endpoint that is a platform which has boarding areas. A platform that has boarding areas is treated as a parent object, not a point. In such cases, the platform must not have pathways assigned - instead, pathways must be assigned to its boarding areas.

References

• pathways.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty row.	Integer
pathwayId	The id of the faulty pathway.	String
fieldName	The platform id field name.	String
stopId	The id of the endpoint platform.	String

pathway_to_wrong_location_type

A pathway has an endpoint that is a station. Pathways endpoints must be platforms (stops), entrances/exits, generic nodes or boarding areas.

References

• pathways.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty row.	Integer
pathwayId	The id of the faulty pathway.	String
fieldName	The station id field name.	String
stopId	The id of the endpoint station.	String

pathway_unreachable_location

A location belongs to a station that has pathways and is not reachable at least in one direction: from the entrances or to the exits.

Notices are reported for platforms, boarding areas and generic nodes but not for entrances or stations.

Notices are not reported for platforms that have boarding areas since such platforms may not have incident pathways. Instead, notices are reported for the boarding areas.

References

• pathways.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	Row number of the unreachable location.	Long
stopId	The id of the unreachable location.	String
stopName	The stop name of the unreachable location.	String
locationType	The type of the unreachable location.	Integer
parentStation	The parent of the unreachable location.	String
hasEntrance	Whether the location is reachable from entrances.	String
hasExit	Whether some exit can be reached from the location.	String

Affected files

• pathways.txt
• stops.txt

point_near_origin

A point is too close to origin (0, 0).

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the affected GTFS file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty row.	Integer
entityId	The id of the faulty entity.	String
latFieldName	The name of the field that uses latitude value.	String
latFieldValue	The latitude of the faulty row.	Double
lonFieldName	The name of the field that uses longitude value.	String
lonFieldValue	The longitude of the faulty row	Double

Affected files

• stops.txt
• shapes.txt

point_near_pole

A point is too close to the North or South Pole.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the affected GTFS file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty row.	Integer
entityId	The id of the faulty entity.	String
latFieldName	The name of the field that uses latitude value.	String
latFieldValue	The latitude of the faulty row.	Double
lonFieldName	The name of the field that uses longitude value.	String
lonFieldValue	The longitude of the faulty row	Double

Affected files

• stops.txt
• shapes.txt

route_both_short_and_long_name_missing

Both route_short_name and route_long_name are missing for a route.

References

• routes.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
routeId	The id of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• routes.txt

start_and_end_range_equal

The fields frequencies.start_date and frequencies.end_date have been found equal in frequencies.txt. The GTFS spec is currently unclear how this case should be handled (e.g., is it a trip that circulates once?). It is recommended to use a trip not defined via frequencies.txt for this case.

References

• Original Python validator implementation frequencies.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
entityId	The id of the faulty entity.	String
startFieldName	The start value's field name.	String
endFieldName	The end value's field name.	String
value	The faulty value.	String

Affected files

• frequencies.txt

start_and_end_range_out_of_order

Date or time fields have been found out of order in calendar.txt, feed_info.txt and stop_times.txt.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• calendar.txt specification
• calendar_dates.txt specification
• feed_info.txt specification
• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
entityId	The faulty service id.	String
startFieldName	The start value's field name.	String
startValue	The start value.	String
endFieldName	The end value's field name.	String
endValue	The end value.	String

Affected files

• calendar.txt
• calendar_dates.txt
• feed_info.txt
• stop_times.txt

station_with_parent_station

Field parent_station must be empty when location_type is 1.

References

stop.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
stopId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopName	The stops.stop_name of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
parentStation	Parent station's id.	String

Affected files

• stops.txt

stop_time_timepoint_without_times

Any records with stop_times.timepoint set to 1 must define a value for stop_times.arrival_time and stop_times.departure_time fields.

References

• GTFS stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tripId	The faulty record's id.	String
stopSequence	The faulty record's stops.stop_sequence.	String
specifiedField	Either departure_time or arrival_time.	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

stop_time_with_arrival_before_previous_departure_time

For a given trip_id, the arrival_time of (n+1)-th stoptime in sequence must not precede the departure_time of n-th stoptime in sequence in stop_times.txt.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
prevCsvRowNumber	The row of the previous stop time.	Long
tripId	The trip_id associated to the faulty record.	String
departureTime	Departure time at the previous stop time.	String
arrivalTime	Arrival time at the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

stop_time_with_only_arrival_or_departure_time

Missing stop_time.arrival_time or stop_time.departure_time

References

• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tripId	The trip_id associated to the faulty record.	String
stopSequence	The sequence of the faulty stop.	Integer
specifiedField	Either arrival_time or departure_time	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

stop_without_location

stop_lat and/or stop_lon are required for locations that are stops (location_type=0), stations (location_type=1) or entrances/exits (location_type=2).

References

• GTFS stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
stopId	The faulty record's id.	String
locationType	The faulty record's stops.location_type.	Integer
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• stops.txt

stop_without_zone_id

If fare_rules.txt is provided, and fare_rules.txt uses at least one column among origin_id, destination_id, and contains_id, then all stops and platforms (location_type = 0) must have stops.zone_id assigned.

References

• GTFS stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
stopId	The faulty record's id.	String
stopName	The faulty record's stops.stop_name.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• stops.txt
• fare_rules.txt

too_many_rows

A CSV file has too many rows. Feeds with too large files cannot be processed in a reasonable time by GTFS consumers.

References

None.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	Name of the CSV file that has too many rows.	String
rowNumber	Number of the row when reading was stopped.	long

transfer_with_invalid_stop_location_type

A from_stop_id or to_stop_id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a stop that has a location_type other than 0 or 1 (aka Stop/Platform or Station).

References

• transfers.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number from transfers.txt for the faulty entry.	long
stopIdFieldName	The name of the stop id field (e.g. from_stop_id) referencing the stop.	String
stopId	The referenced stop id.	String
locationTypeValue	The numeric value of the invalid location type.	int
locationTypeName	The name of the invalid location type.	String

transfer_with_invalid_trip_and_route

A from_trip_id or to_trip_id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a route that does not match its trips.txt route_id.

References

• transfers.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number from transfers.txt for the faulty entry.	long
tripFieldName	The name of the trip id field (e.g. from_trip_id) referencing a trip.	String
tripId	The referenced trip id.	String
routeFieldName	The name of the route id field (e.g. from_route_id) referencing the route.	String
routeId	The referenced route id.	String
expectedRouteId	The expected route id from trips.txt.	String

transfer_with_invalid_trip_and_stop

A from_trip_id or to_trip_id field from GTFS file transfers.txt references a stop that is not included in the referenced trip's stop-times.

References

• transfers.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number from transfers.txt for the faulty entry.	long
tripFieldName	The name of the trip id field (e.g. from_trip_id) referencing a trip.	String
tripId	The referenced trip id.	String
stopFieldName	The name of the stop id field (e.g. stop_route_id) referencing the stop.	String
stopId	The referenced stop id.	String

transfer_with_suspicious_mid_trip_in_seat

A from_trip_id or to_trip_id field from GTFS file transfers.txt with an in-seat transfer type references a stop that is not in the expected position in the trip's stop-times. For in-seat transfers, we expect the stop to be the last stop-time in the trip sequence for from_stop_id and the first stop-time for to_stop_id. If you are intentionally using this feature to model mid-trip transfers, you can ignore this warning, but be aware that this functionality is still considered to be partially experimental in some interpretations of the spec.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number from transfers.txt for the faulty entry.	long
tripIdFieldName	The name of the trip id field (e.g. from_trip_id) referencing a trip.	String
tripId	The referenced trip id.	String
stopIdFieldName	The name of the stop id field (e.g. from_stop_id) referencing the stop.	String
stopId	The referenced stop id.	String

translation_foreign_key_violation

An entity with the given record_id and record_sub_id cannot be found in the referenced table.

References

• translations.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tableName	table_name of the faulty record.	String
recordId	record_id of the faulty record.	String
recordSubId	record_sub_id of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• translations.txt

translation_unexpected_value

A field in a translations row has value but must be empty.

References

• translations.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	The name of the field that was expected to be empty.	String
fieldValue	Actual value of the field that was expected to be empty.	String

Affected files

• translations.txt

wrong_parent_location_type

Value of field location_type of parent found in field parent_station is invalid.

According to spec

• Stop/platform can only have Station as parent
• Station can NOT have a parent
• Entrance/exit or generic node can only have Station as parent
• Boarding Area can only have Platform as parent

Any other combination raise this error.

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopName	The faulty record's stops.stop_name.	String
locationType	The faulty record's stops.location_type.	Integer
parentCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record's parent.	Long
parentStation	The id of the faulty record's parent station.	String
parentStopName	The stop name of the faulty record's parent.	String
parentLocationType	The location type of the faulty record's parent.	Integer
expectedLocationType	The expected location type of the faulty record.	Integer

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

More details - WARNINGS

attribution_without_role

At least one of the fields is_producer, is_operator, or is_authority should be set to 1.

References

• attributions.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
attributionId	The id of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• attributions.txt

duplicate_fare_media

Two distinct fare media have the same fare media name and type.

Fare media should have a unique combination of fare media name and type.

References

• fare_media.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber1	The row of the first occurrence.	Long
fareMediaId1	The id of the the first occurrence.	String
csvRowNumber2	The row of the second occurrence.	Long
fareMediaId2	The id of the the second occurrence.	String

Affected files

• fare_media.txt

duplicate_route_name

All routes of the same route_type with the same agency_id should have unique combinations of route_short_name and route_long_name.

Note that there may be valid cases where routes have the same short and long name, e.g., if they serve different areas. However, different directions must be modeled as the same route.

Example of bad data:

route_id	route_short_name	route_long_name
route1	U1	Southern
route2	U1	Southern

References

• routes.txt specification
• routes.txt best practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber1	The row number of the first occurrence.	Long
routeId1	The id of the the first occurrence.	String
csvRowNumber2	The row number of the other occurrence.	Long
routeId2	The id of the the other occurrence.	String
routeShortName	Common routes.route_short_name.	String
routeLongName	Common routes.route_long_name.	String
routeTypeValue	Common routes.route_type.	String
agencyId	Common routes.agency_id.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

empty_row

A row in the input file has only spaces.

References

• GTFS file requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

equal_shape_distance_same_coordinates

When sorted by shape.shape_pt_sequence, the values for shape_dist_traveled must increase along a shape. Two consecutive points with equal values for shape_dist_traveled and the same coordinates indicate a duplicative shape point.

References

• shapes.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
shapeId	The id of the faulty shape.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt.	Long
shapeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the faulty record.	Double
shapePtSequence	The faulty record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer
prevCsvRowNumber	The row number from shapes.txt of the previous shape point.	Long
prevShapeDistTraveled	Actual distance traveled along the shape from the first shape point to the previous shape point.	Double
prevShapePtSequence	The previous record's shapes.shape_pt_sequence.	Integer

Affected files

• stops.txt
• shapes.txt

expired_calendar

Dataset should not contain date ranges for services that have already expired. This warning takes into account the calendar_dates.txt file as well as the calendar.txt file.

References

• Dataset Publishing & General Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
serviceId	The service_id for the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

calendar.txt calendar_dates.txt

fast_travel_between_consecutive_stops

A transit vehicle moves too fast between two consecutive stops. The speed threshold depends on route type.

Speed thresholds

Route type	Description	Threshold, km/h
0	Light rail	100
1	Subway	150
2	Rail	500
3	Bus	150
4	Ferry	80
5	Cable tram	30
6	Aerial lift	50
7	Funicular	50
11	Trolleybus	150
12	Monorail	150
-	Unknown	200

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the problematic trip.	Long
tripId	trip_id of the problematic trip.	String
routeId	route_id of the problematic trip.	String
speedKph	Travel speed (km/h).	Double
distanceKm	Distance between stops (km).	Double
csvRowNumber1	The row number of the first stop time.	Long
stopSequence1	stop_sequence of the first stop.	Integer
stopId1	stop_id of the first stop.	String
stopName1	stop_name of the first stop.	String
departureTime1	departure_time of the first stop.	Time
csvRowNumber2	The row number of the second stop time.	Long
stopSequence2	stop_sequence of the second stop.	Integer
stopId2	stop_id of the second stop.	String
stopName2	stop_name of the second stop.	String
arrivalTime2	arrival_time of the second stop.	Time

Affected files

• routes.txt
• stops.txt
• stop_times.txt
• trips.txt

fast_travel_between_far_stops

A transit vehicle moves too fast between far consecutive stops (more than in 10 km apart). This normally indicates a more serious problem than too fast travel between consecutive stops. The speed threshold depends on route type.

Speed thresholds

Same as for fast_travel_between_consecutive_stops.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the problematic trip.	Long
tripId	trip_id of the problematic trip.	String
routeId	route_id of the problematic trip.	String
speedKph	Travel speed (km/h).	Double
distanceKm	Distance between stops (km).	Double
csvRowNumber1	The row number of the first stop time.	Long
stopSequence1	stop_sequence of the first stop.	Integer
stopId1	stop_id of the first stop.	String
stopName1	stop_name of the first stop.	String
departureTime1	departure_time of the first stop.	Time
csvRowNumber2	The row number of the second stop time.	Long
stopSequence2	stop_sequence of the second stop.	Integer
stopId2	stop_id of the second stop.	String
stopName2	stop_name of the second stop.	String
arrivalTime2	arrival_time of the second stop.	Time

Affected files

• routes.txt
• stops.txt
• stop_times.txt
• trips.txt

feed_expiration_date7_days

The dataset expiration date defined in feed_info.txt is in seven days or less. At any time, the published GTFS dataset should be valid for at least the next 7 days.

References

• General Publishing & General Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
currentDate	Current date (YYYYMMDD format).	String
feedEndDate	Feed end date (YYYYMMDD format).	String
suggestedExpirationDate	Suggested expiration date (YYYYMMDD format).	String

Affected files

• feed_info.txt

feed_expiration_date30_days

At any time, the GTFS dataset should cover at least the next 30 days of service, and ideally for as long as the operator is confident that the schedule will continue to be operated.

References

• General Publishing & General Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
currentDate	Current date (YYYYMMDD format).	String
feedEndDate	Feed end date (YYYYMMDD format).	String
suggestedExpirationDate	Suggested expiration date (YYYYMMDD format).	String

Affected files

• feed_info.txt

feed_info_lang_and_agency_lang_mismatch

1. Files agency.txt and feed_info.txt should define matching agency.agency_lang and feed_info.feed_lang. The default language may be multilingual for datasets with the original text in multiple languages. In such cases, the feed_lang field should contain the language code mul defined by the norm ISO 639-2.

• If feed_lang is not mul and does not match with agency_lang, that's an error
• If there is more than one agency_lang and feed_lang isn't mul, that's an error
• If feed_lang is mul and there isn't more than one agency_lang, that's an error

References

• GTFS feed_info.txt specification
• GTFS agency.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
agencyId	The agency id of the faulty record.	String
agencyName	The agency name of the faulty record.	String
agencyLang	The agency language of the faulty record.	String
feedLang	The feed language of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt
• feed_info.txt

inconsistent_agency_lang

Agencies from GTFS agency.txt have been found to have different languages.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
expected	Expected language.	String
actual	Faulty record's language.	String

Affected files

• agency.txt

leading_or_trailing_whitespaces

The value in CSV file has leading or trailing whitespaces.

References

• GTFS file requirements

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	Faulty record's field name.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

missing_feed_info_date

Even though feed_info.start_date and feed_info.end_date are optional, if one field is provided the second one should also be provided.

References

• feed_info.txt Best practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
fieldName	Either feed_end_date or feed_start_date	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long

Affected files

• feed_info.txt

Notice fields description

missing_recommended_file

A recommended file is missing.

References

• feed_info.txt best practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String

Affected files

• feed_info.txt

missing_recommended_field

The given field has no value in some input row, even though values are recommended.

References

• feed_info.txt best practices
• agency.txt best practices
• fare_attributes.txt best practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	The name of the missing field.	String

Affected files

• feed_info.txt

missing_timepoint_column

The timepoint column should be provided.

References

• stop_times.txt best practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the affected file.	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

missing_timepoint_value

Even though the column timepoint is optional in stop_times.txt according to the specification, stop_times.timepoint should not be empty when provided.

References

• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tripId	The faulty record's stop_times.trip_id.	String
stopSequence	The faulty record's stop_times.stop_sequence.	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt

mixed_case_recommended_field

This field contains customer-facing text and should use Mixed Case (upper and lower case letters) to ensure good readability when displayed to riders. Avoid the use of abbreviations throughout the feed (e.g. St. for Street) unless a location is called by its abbreviated name (e.g. “JFK Airport”). Abbreviations may be problematic for accessibility by screen reader software and voice user interfaces.

References

• Best Practices for All Files

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
filename	Name of the faulty file.	String
fieldName	Name of the faulty field.	String
fieldValue	Name of the faulty field.	String

Affected files & fields

• agency.agency_name
• stops.stop_name
• stops.stop_desc
• routes.route_short_name
• routes.route_long_name
• routes.route_desc
• trips.trip_headsign
• trips.trip_short_name
• pathways.signposted_as
• pathways.reversed_signposted_as
• levels.level_name

more_than_one_entity

The file is expected to have a single entity but has more (e.g., "feed_info.txt").

References

• GTFS field definition

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	Name of the faulty file.	String
entityCount	Number of occurrences.	Long

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

non_ascii_or_non_printable_char

A value of a field with type id contains non ASCII or non printable characters. This is not recommended.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	Name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	Row number of the faulty record.	Long
columnName	Name of the column where the error occurred.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

pathway_dangling_generic_node

A generic node has only one incident location in a pathway graph. Such generic node is useless because there is no benefit in visiting it.

References

• pathways.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	Row number of the dangling generic node.	Long
stopId	The id of the dangling generic node.	String
stopName	The stop name of the dangling generic node.	String
parentStation	The parent station of the dangling generic node.	String

Affected files

• pathways.txt
• stops.txt

pathway_loop

A pathway should not have same values for from_stop_id and to_stop_id.

References

• pathways.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	Row number of the faulty row from pathways.txt.	Long
pathwayId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopId	The pathway.stop_id that is repeated in pathways.from_stop_id and pathways.to_stop_id.	String

Affected files

• pathways.txt

platform_without_parent_station

A platform has no parent_station field set.

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	Row number of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopName	The stop name of the faulty record.	String
locationType	The location type of the faulty record.	Integer

Affected files

• stops.txt

route_color_contrast

A route's color and route_text_color should be contrasting.

References

• routes.txt specification
• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
routeId	The id of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
routeColor	The faulty record's HTML route color.	String
routeTextColor	The faulty record's HTML route text color.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

route_long_name_contains_short_name

In routes.txt, route_long_name should not contain the value for route_short_name, because when both are provided, they are often combined by transit applications. Note that only one of the two fields is required. If there is no short name used for a route, use route_long_name only.

Good examples:

route_short_name/route_long_name	Dataset
"N"/"Judah"	Muni San Fransisco
"6"/"ML King Jr Blvd"	Trimet Portland Streetcar
"55"/"Boulevard Saint Laurent"	STM Montreal
"1"/"Rangiora/Cashmere"	Metro Christchurch

Bad examples:

route_short_name/route_long_name
"604"/"604"
"14"/"Route 14"
"2"/"Route 2: Bellows Falls In-Town"

References

• routes.txt Best Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
routeId	The id of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
routeShortName	The route_short_name of the faulty record.	String
routeLongName	The route_long_name of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

route_short_name_too_long

Short name of a route is too long (more than 12 characters).

References

• routes.txt Best Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
routeId	The id of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
routeShortName	The faulty record's route_short_name.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

same_name_and_description_for_route

The GTFS spec defines routes.txt route_desc as:

Description of a route that provides useful, quality information. Do not simply duplicate the name of the route.

See the GTFS and GTFS Best Practices links below for more examples of how to populate the route_short_name, route_long_name, and route_desc fields.

References

routes.txt specification routes.txt Best Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
routeId	The id of the faulty record.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
routeDesc	The routes.routes_desc of the faulty record.	String
specifiedField	Either route_short_name or route_long_name.	String

Affected files

• routes.txt

same_name_and_description_for_stop

The GTFS spec defines stops.txt stop_description as:

Description of the location that provides useful, quality information. Do not simply duplicate the name of the location.

References

stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty record.	String
stopDesc	The faulty record's stop_desc.	String

Affected files

• stops.txt

same_route_and_agency_url

A route should not have the same routes.route_url as a record from agency.txt.

References

• routes.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
routeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from routes.txt.	Long
routeId	The faulty record's id.	String
agencyId	The faulty record's routes.agency_id.	String
agencyName	The faulty record's referenced agency name.	String
routeUrl	The duplicate URL value	String
agencyCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from agency.txt.	Long

Affected files

• agency.txt
• routes.txt

same_stop_and_agency_url

A stop should not have the same stops.stop_url as a record from agency.txt.

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
stopCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stops.txt.	Long
stopId	The faulty record's id.	String
agencyName	The faulty record's agency.agency_name.	String
stopUrl	The duplicate URL value.	String
agencyCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from agency.txt.	Long

Affected files

• agency.txt
• stops.txt

same_stop_and_route_url

A stop should not have the same stop.stop_url as a record from routes.txt.

References

• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
stopCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stops.txt.	Long
stopId	The faulty record's id.	String
stopUrl	The duplicate URL value.	String
routeId	The faulty record's id from `routes.txt.	String
routeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from routes.txt.	Long

Affected files

• routes.txt
• stops.txt

stop_has_too_many_matches_for_shape

A stop entry that has many potential matches to the trip's path of travel, as defined by the shape entry in shapes.txt.

References

• trips.txt specification
• stops_times.txt specification
• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from trips.txt.	Long
shapeId	The id of the shape that is referred to.	String
tripId	The id of the trip that is referred to.	String
stopTimeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long
stopId	The id of the stop that is referred to.	String
stopName	The name of the stop that is referred to.	String
match	Latitude and longitude pair of the location.	Object
matchCount	The number of matches for the stop that is referred to.	Integer

Affected files

• trips.txt
• stops_times.txt
• stops.txt

stops_match_shape_out_of_order

Two stop entries in stop_times.txt are different than their arrival-departure order as defined by the shape in the shapes.txt file.

References

• trips.txt specification
• stops_times.txt specification
• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from trips.txt.	Long
shapeId	The id of the shape that is referred to.	String
tripId	The id of the trip that is referred to.	String
stopTimeCsvRowNumber1	The row number of the first faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long
stopId1	The id of the first stop that is referred to.	String
stopName1	The name of the first stop that is referred to.	String
match1	Latitude and longitude pair of the first matching location.	Object
stopTimeCsvRowNumber2	The row number of the second faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long
stopId2	The id of the second stop that is referred to.	String
stopName2	The name of the second stop that is referred to.	String
match2	Latitude and longitude pair of the second matching location.	Object

Affected files

• trips.txt
• stops_times.txt
• stops.txt

stop_too_far_from_shape

Per GTFS Best Practices, route alignments (in shapes.txt) should be within 100 meters of stop locations which a trip serves.

References

• GTFS Best Practices shapes.txt

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from trips.txt.	Long
shapeId	The id of the shape that is referred to.	String
tripId	The id of the trip that is referred to.	String
stopTimeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long
stopId	The id of the stop that is referred to.	String
stopName	The name of the stop that is referred to.	String
match	Latitude and longitude pair of the location.	Object
geoDistanceToShape	Distance from stop to shape.	Double

Affected files

• stop_times.txt
• stops.txt
• trips.txt

stop_too_far_from_shape_using_user_distance

A stop time entry that is a large distance away from the location of the shape in shapes.txt as defined by shape_dist_traveled values.

References

• trips.txt specification
• stops_times.txt specification
• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
tripCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from trips.txt.	Long
shapeId	The id of the shape that is referred to.	String
tripId	The id of the trip that is referred to.	String
stopTimeCsvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record from stop_times.txt.	Long
stopId	The id of the stop that is referred to.	String
stopName	The name of the stop that is referred to.	String
match	Latitude and longitude pair of the location.	Object
geoDistanceToShape	Distance from stop to shape.	Double

Affected files

• stop_times.txt
• stops.txt
• trips.txt A stop time entry that is a large distance away from the location of the shape in shapes.txt as defined by shape_dist_traveled values.

stop_without_stop_time

A stop in stops.txt is not referenced by any stop_times.stop_id, so it is not used by any trip. Such stops normally do not provide user value. This notice may indicate a typo in stop_times.txt.

References

• stops_times.txt specification
• stops.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
stopId	The id of the faulty stop.	String
stopName	The name of the faulty stop.	String

translation_unknown_table_name

A translation references an unknown or missing GTFS table.

References

• translations.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tableName	table_name of the faulty record.	String

Affected files

• translations.txt

trip_coverage_not_active_for_next7_days

Trips data should be valid for at least the next seven days. This notice is triggered if the date range where a significant number of trips are running ends in less than 7 days.

References

• Dataset Publishing & General Practices

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
currentDate	The date that the dataset was validated.	Date
serviceWindowStartDate	The start date of the trips in the dataset.	Date
serviceWindowEndDate	The end date of the trips in the dataset.	Date

Affected files

• trips.txt

unexpected_enum_value

An enum has an unexpected value.

References

• GTFs field definitions

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
fieldName	The name of the field where the error occurred.	String
fieldValue	Faulty value.	Integer

Affected files

• attributions.txt
• calendar.txt
• calendar_dates.txt
• fare_attributes.txt
• frequencies.txt
• levels.txt
• routes.txt
• stops.txt
• stop_times.txt
• transfers.txt
• translations.txt
• trips.txt
• pathways.txt

unusable_trip

A trip must visit more than one stop in stop_times.txt to be usable by passengers for boarding and alighting.

References:

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tripId	The faulty record's id.	String

Affected files

• stop_times.txt
• trips.txt

unused_shape

All records defined by GTFS shapes.txt should be used in trips.txt.

References:

• Original Python validator implementation
• shapes.txt specification
• trips.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
shapeId	The faulty record's id.	String

Affected files

• shapes.txt
• trips.txt

unused_trip

Trips should be referred to at least once in stop_times.txt.

References

• Original Python validator implementation
• trips.txt specification
• stop_times.txt specification

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
csvRowNumber	The row number of the faulty record.	Long
tripId	The faulty record's id.	String

Affected files

• trips.txt
• stop_times.txt

More details - INFOS

unknown_column

A column is unknown.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the faulty file.	String
fieldName	The name of the unknown column.	String
index	The index of the faulty column.	Integer

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

unknown_file

A file is unknown.

References

• Original Python validator implementation

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the unknown file.	String

More details - SYSTEM ERRORS

i_o_error

Error in IO operation.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
exception	The name of the exception.	String
message	The error message that explains the reason for the exception.	String

runtime_exception_in_loader_error

A RuntimeException occurred while loading a table. This normally indicates a bug in validator.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
filename	The name of the file that caused the exception.	String
exception	The name of the exception.	String
message	The error message that explains the reason for the exception.	String

Affected files

All GTFS files supported by the specification.

runtime_exception_in_validator_error

A RuntimeException occurred during validation. This normally indicates a bug in validator code, e.g., in a custom validator class.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
validator	The name of the validator that caused the exception.	String
exception	The name of the exception.	String
message	The error message that explains the reason for the exception.	String

thread_execution_error

An ExecutionException occurred during multithreaded validation.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
exception	The name of the exception.	String
message	The error message that explains the reason for the exception.	String

u_r_i_syntax_error

A string could not be parsed as a URI reference.

Notice fields description

Field name	Description	Type
exception	The name of the exception.	String
message	The error message that explains the reason for the exception.	String