Validation warnings are messages that indicate potential problems with your feed. Some problems may cause your transit data to incorrectly show up in Google Maps.
Review warnings to ensure that the data in your feed is accurate and correctly coded. Update and revalidate your feed when you get warnings about problems.
Multiple fares without rules & Fares with and without rules
Error in English: Multiple fares without rules & Fares with and without rules
Fares defined without rules are valid for all itineraries that meet their transfer limitations. Review the corresponding fares to make sure users get the correct fare information.
Learn more about guidelines for frequencies.
Frequency headway longer than interval
Error in English: Frequency headway longer than interval
In the frequencies.txt file, the headway_secs value is greater than the difference between the end_time and start_time. The headway_secs value must be less than the frequency interval.
Overlapping frequency-based trips
Error in English: Overlapping frequency-based trips
You get this warning when 2 trips that operate on the same day have frequency intervals that overlap with the same sequence of stops and times. This may mean you have duplicate trips in the feed or calendar entries that cause trips to start on the wrong day.
For example, you may create duplicate trips if you schedule a weekend service on a weekday that’s a holiday, but don’t disable the regular weekday service.
To fix this, verify that you correctly defined the service periods and exceptions.
Learn more about guidelines for routes.
Route name reused
Error in English: Route name reused
You get this warning when routes are unnecessarily subdivided. Review each warning instance. You can ignore this warning if your routes are named by type or operator.
route_short_name contained in route_long_name
Error in English: route_short_name contained in route_long_name
Make sure that the fields route_long_name and route_short_name don’t contain the name used in either field. The fields must be unique from each other.
route_short_name equals route_long_name
Error in English: route_short_name equals route_long_name
Make sure that the fields route_short_name and route_long_name aren’t the same. If they are, use the data in only 1 of the 2 fields.
route_short_name is too long
Error in English: route_short_name is too long
You get this warning when any route_short_name field is longer than 6 characters. You can ignore this warning if your route_short_name has a proper name, and you also have a route_long_name.
Learn more about guidelines for shapes.
Stop doesn't match shape_dist_traveled value
You get this warning when you have a shape_dist_traveled value that doesn’t match the location of the stop along the shape. In some cases, the system can ignore the shape_dist_traveled value and match the stop to the shape.
Review the problem instances and determine whether to completely remove the shape_dist_traveled values.
Stop too far from shape
Error in English: Stop too far from shape
The cause of this warning can be wrong shapes or wrong stop locations. Verify that the shape matches the course of the corresponding trip.
Example
A stop in the stop_times.txt file is more than 150 meters away from the trip path of travel as defined by the shape entry in the shapes.txt file. Review that the shape matches the course of the corresponding trip and that all stop locations are correct.
Learn more about guidelines for stops and stations.
Point location too close to origin (0,0)
Error in English: Point location too close to origin (0,0)
Fix any stop with a coordinate pair “0,0” or close to it, which means the stop is either incorrectly located or missing coordinates.
Stops too close or Stations too close
Error in English: Stops too close or Stations too close
Try to represent a real-world stop with only one stop in the GTFS feed. In some schedule and routing systems, the same real-world stop is handled with different internal codes and defined in the feed multiple times.
Make sure the warnings aren’t because of bad stop locations or bad stop or station modeling. Stops with different names that are too close together can also indicate a problem.
Stops too close together
Error in English: Stops too close together
The warning happens when 2 stops in the stops.txt file are too close to each other. This warning often implies that the stops are duplicates.
When 2 stops are very close, there’s a good chance they represent the same stop. Other warning triggers include:
- Stops with different names that are too close to one another
- Stops which are close but on different levels
Although this warning is common, it doesn’t automatically block the launch. The trip planner uses stop location to determine where to place a stop icon marker on the map. The marker represents the physical location where a passenger boards. Schedule and routing systems sometimes use different internal codes, defined multiple times in the GTFS feed, for the same stop.
To place a single map marker on one point, consolidate internal codes into a single stop location code for each unique geolocation. Ideally, a real-world stop should be represented by only 1 stop inside the GTFS feed.
Review these warnings to make sure they’re not because of bad stop locations or incorrect stop modeling.
Stop too close to station
Error in English: Stop too close to station
You get this warning when a stop in the stops.txt file is more than 100 meters but less than 1000 meters from its parent station, as linked through the parent_station column. The stop may not be part of the parent station complex.
- Ignore the warning if a subway entrance is far away from the center of its corresponding station.
Make sure you don’t have bad stop locations or bad stop or station modeling.
Stops match shape in wrong order
Error in English: Stops match shape in wrong order
You may get this warning if you have an incorrect shape, wrong stop sequences, or wrong stop location.
Verify all stop locations are correct and that the shape matches the course of the corresponding trip.
Stops with same name and description
Error in English: Stops with same name and description
If a stop_desc value is provided, it should add information and not just duplicate the stop_name.
Stop unused or Station unused
Error in English: Stop unused or Station unused
Stops that aren't used by any trip in the feed aren’t processed further. Check that unused stop or station entries are intended and not caused by a problem in the feed.
A validation warning about unused stops or stations in a GTFS feed means there are entries in the stops.txt file that aren’t used by any entries in the stop_times.txt file. This means that no transit vehicles are scheduled to use that stop or station.
It’s best for GTFS providers to leave stops or stations that aren’t served by any transit vehicles out of their feeds. A rider might be confused if one of these entries shows up on a map or in search results.
When you resolve "Unused stop" or "Unused station" validation warnings, check whether:
- Transit vehicles should be scheduled to use that
stoporstation. There may be a problem with entries in thestop_times.txtfile, such as thestopbeing incorrectly excluded from thetriporstoppattern of aroute. - The
stoporstationis no longer in service. If it isn’t in service, it may be best to remove it from the feed. -
You have corresponding entries in the
stop_times.txtfile. Usually, when you use thestop-stationhierarchy in a GTFS feed,stationentries (stops with alocation_typeof 1) don’t correspond to the file. If astationentry doesn’t have the correctlocation_typevalue, the feed validator considers it a regular stop and warns that it’s not used.
Tip: Even though we recommend against it, there’s no restriction against the inclusion of stops or stations that aren’t served by any transit vehicles in your GTFS feed.
Learn more about guidelines for transfers.
Important: The following transfer warnings must be fixed.
min_transfer_time is missing
Error in English: min_transfer_time is missing
You get this warning when a transfer is defined as a timed transfer but no min_transfer_time was defined. Either the wrong transfer_type was defined or the min_transfer_time was not set.
Transfer distance is too large
Error in English: Transfer distance is too large
You get this warning when a transfer is defined between 2 stops that are at a distance passengers wouldn’t normally walk between, greater than 2 km.
Transfer walking speed is too fast
Error in English: Transfer walking speed is too fast
You get this warning when a transfer is defined between 2 stops with a min_transfer_time that requires very fast walking, greater than 2m/s.
Learn more about guidelines for trips.
Block trips with inconsistent route types
Error in English: Block trips with inconsistent route types
A block trip implies that passengers can remain on a vehicle to transfer from one route to the next. If the route_type changes, either the block or the route_type is incorrectly defined.
You must fix this problem.
Stop headsign duplicates stop name
Error in English: Stop headsign duplicates stop name
The stop_headsign describes the direction for trips that depart from the specified stop. If you depart from the Central Terminal, this problem prevents routing results to a route towards the Central Terminal.
Trip headsign contains route_long_name
Error in English: Trip headsign contains route_long_name
The trip_headsign may display together with route_long_name information. The information between the headsign and name must be unique.
Trip headsign contains route_short_name
Error in English: Trip headsign contains route_short_name
The trip_headsign displays together with the route_short_name field. This prevents routing results like “1 towards 1 Central Terminal.”
The information between the headsign and name must be unique.
Trips with incorrect stop headsigns
Error in English: Trips with incorrect stop headsigns
You get this warning when you have an incorrect stop_headsign. Correct stop_headsign for loop trips is the next stop. Trips must have at least one stop with the correct headsign.
For example, "Zoo" may be the headsign from the train hub to the zoo, however on the return trip this should become "Train hub" to indicate the new destination.
Trip duplicates
Error in English: Trip duplicates
You get this warning when 2 trips operate on the same day with the same sequence of stops and arrival or departure times. This may mean you have duplicate trips in the feed or misconfigured calendar entries that cause trips to activate on the wrong day. Verify the correct definition of service periods and exceptions.
For example, you may create duplicate trips if you schedule a weekend service but don’t disable the regular weekday service.
Fast travel between stops or Fast travel between far stops
Error in English: Fast travel between stops or Fast travel between far stops
You get these warnings when you have 2 stop times in the same trip in the stop_times.txt file, where the transit vehicle must travel at suspiciously fast speeds to arrive at the specified stops in the specified time. The distance between stops is the only difference between the warnings.