| date_published | 2026-07-03 |
|---|---|
| date_modified | 2026-07-03 |
Code: unknown_column (MobilityData validator)
A file in your feed has a column header that is not a field in the GTFS spec. Apps ignore columns they do not recognise, so these do no harm on their own. The validator surfaces them because an unknown column is sometimes a misspelled real one, and that case does cause harm.
Two things hide behind an unknown column. The harmless kind is a vendor extra:
an internal field the export carries that no app reads. The harmful kind is a
typo in a standard field name, like stop_lat written stop_latt or
wheelchair_boarding written wheelchair_boardng. When a real field is
misspelled, every app treats it as missing, so the data you entered silently
does nothing. The check is worth a look precisely because it catches that.
Look at each flagged column name:
- A misspelled GTFS field: correct the spelling so apps read the data again. Compare against the field names in the GTFS reference; the typo is usually one or two letters off a real field.
- A genuine vendor extra: it is safe to leave, but removing it keeps the feed clean and the next reviewer from wondering. Many tools have a setting to export only standard fields.
A quick look at the flagged files. Correcting a typo is a one-line change; deciding a column is a harmless extra takes only a glance.