Compliance NTD Reporting SOP 0020

Karen Minnick

Updated December 05, 2025 16:22

Purpose

This SOP outlines the procedural steps for your agency staff who will use the Compliance NTD reporting cards in ETMS for reviewing reporting requirements and for submitting data to the NTD.

Operational Impact and Metrics

Accurate reporting to NTD influences the acceptance of submitted data/ approvals, and influences future funding sources
Review these reports regularly to ensure all scheduled service offerings are being captured or accounted for in service deviations
And develop action plans to address identified issues

S10 Reporting Metrics:

Revenue vs Non-Revenue Miles & Hours
APTLs (Average Passenger Trip Length)
APCs
Coverage Rate
Service Levels
Capture Rate
Service Deviations

Definitions

NTD	National Transit Database
APTLs	Average Passenger Trip Length
UPT	Unlinked Passenger Trips
PMT	Passenger Miles Traveled (used by full reporters)
ETL	Extract, Transfer, Load- a dataflow tool used to move data from one place to another
FTA	Federal Transportation Administration

Frequency

This procedure should be performed for each NTD reporting cycle

Pro Tips

REVIEW: Best practice includes reviewing your reportable NTD data monthly to ensure data collection meets your standard
ACTION: Identify issues in data collection so your agency teams can develop proactive action plans to address any unexpected behaviors that resulted in decreased performance metrics
GOAL: you experience robust reporting when comparing service performed against the active schedule

UNEXPECTED BEHAVIORS:

vehicle operator behavior
schedule data issues
vehicle health issues

Positions and Responsibilities

Implementation of this procedure is the responsibility of:

Agency NTD Compliance Reporters & Schedule Planners

Procedure

This procedure describes the high-level steps involved in using the NTD Dashboard to review collected data:

NTD Dashboard

Leverage the NTD Dashboard reported metrics as these are based on collected data/ performed service. This report provides reported metrics for:

APCs
Trip Samples
APTLs
Service levels
Comparing this year to last for capture and coverage rates- setting targets

How to Run This Report

Select Schedule for review/ or select month
Select Service Mode, if applicable
Select singular routes if preferred
Press Apply
Review information and scrutinize for anomalies / unexpected reported metrics/ to troubleshoot any noted issues with a focus on any significant unexpected differences

NTD Summary Report

Leverage the NTD Summary Report to focus on collected metrics for:

Days Operated
Atypical Days
APTLs
Service Levels
Capture Rate
Coverage Rate
Accepted Trip Samples

How to Run This Report

Select schedule for review/ or select month
Select Service Mode, if applicable
Select singular routes if preferred
Press Apply
Review information and scrutinize for anomalies / unexpected reported metrics/ to troubleshoot any noted issues

NTD Trip Samples Report

Leverage the NTD Trip Samples Report to 1) first focus on reported metrics and then to 2) importantly troubleshoot issues that affect your overall data collection. The Trip Samples report provides built- in troubleshooting tools to assist you in identifying missed service down to the stop segment level.

Accepted Trips
Capture Rate
Coverage Rate
Onboard Over Max Capacity
Boards & Alights Differences
Missed Stops

How to Run This Report

Select schedule for review/ or select month
Select Service Mode, if applicable
Select singular routes if preferred
Press Apply
Review information and scrutinize for anomalies / unexpected reported metrics/ to troubleshoot any noted issues beginning with a focus on low capture rates and missed stops
1. Missed Stops are built- in hyperlinks to be able to drill into the data across each route
2. Open a route to drill into ridership data
3. Press the Stops Detail hyperlink to review boards and alights activity at the stop level

Troubleshooting Tips

Use the Trip Samples report to drill into missed but scheduled service.

How:

When this report loads, use the built- in hyperlink for 'Missed Stops' to review where scheduled but missed service occurred
Use the Replay and Trigger Box tools in Geographic Tools to review granular level data collected from vehicles when in service to see what really happened on the road, to compare performed service to the digital schedule.
Review your Business Intelligence reports to identify issues- Schedule Health, running Times, Schedule Adherence.

Issues are generally related to 3 conditions: