# US Public Transit Agency Leads & Intelligence Scraper (`scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper`) Actor

Scrape every US public transit agency from the official FTA National Transit Database: agency, organization type, website, address, fleet size, modes, annual ridership, operating budget, service area & lead score. Govtech leads, monitor mode.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrape Sage](https://apify.com/scrapesage) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.50 / 1,000 transit agency lead records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## US Public Transit Agency Leads & Intelligence Scraper (FTA NTD)

Build a **clean, structured list of every US public transit agency** — straight from the **official FTA National Transit Database (NTD)**. Every record carries the firmographics and market intelligence govtech vendors qualify on: **agency name, organization type, website, mailing address, fleet size, modes operated, annual ridership, total operating budget, service-area population, FTA region, geo coordinates**, plus a 0–100 lead score.

No login, no cookies, no browser, no proxy — fast JSON extraction from the federal open-data portal.

### Why this transit-agency scraper?

The only other NTD tools on Apify are chat/MCP wrappers that answer one-off questions. This actor ships the **complete structured dataset** — the spine of every NTD reporter agency, **enriched** with the per-mode service metrics (modes, ridership and operating expenses) joined on the NTD ID — so you can filter, score and export a real prospecting list.

| Data | NTD chat/MCP tools | This actor (structured leads) |
|---|---|---|
| Every US transit agency in one export | ❌ | ✅ |
| Organization type (authority / city / MPO / private operator…) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Website & mailing address | partial | ✅ |
| **Fleet size** (vehicles operated) | ❌ | ✅ |
| **Modes operated** (bus / light rail / heavy rail / ferry / demand response…) | partial | ✅ |
| **Annual ridership** (unlinked passenger trips) | partial | ✅ |
| **Total operating budget** (operating expenses) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Service-area population & urbanized area | ❌ | ✅ |
| UEI (links to SAM.gov) & FTA region | ❌ | ✅ |
| Lead score (0–100) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Only-new **monitor mode** | ❌ | ✅ |

### Coverage

The official **FTA National Transit Database** (`datahub.transportation.gov`, keyless government open data): ~2,900 US transit agencies across all 50 states, DC and territories — urban and rural reporters, public authorities, city/county systems, MPOs, state DOTs, tribal and private contract operators. Enriched with the latest annual service metrics (modes, ridership, operating expenses) by NTD ID.

### Use cases

- **Sell rolling stock & EV buses** — filter by `minVehicles`, `modes` (Bus) and `minOperatingExpenses` to find agencies with large fleets and the budget to replace them.
- **Transit software & ITS** (CAD/AVL, scheduling, fare collection, planning, real-time, maintenance/EAM) — target agencies by fleet size, modes, ridership and budget; segment rail vs bus vs demand-response.
- **Rail & ferry vendors** — set `railOperatorsOnly` or filter `modes` to Light/Heavy/Commuter Rail or Ferry.
- **Consulting, engineering & A\&E** — map agencies by service-area population, urbanized area and FTA region for pursuit planning.
- **Fuel, parts, tires, shelters, fare media, uniforms** — qualify by fleet size and operating budget.
- **Government-affairs & grants** — agencies with UEI + FTA region for federal funding outreach.
- **Recurring intelligence feed** — schedule with **monitor mode** to catch new reporters and fleet/ridership/budget changes each NTD release.

### How to use

1. [Sign up for Apify](https://console.apify.com/sign-up) — the free plan is enough to try this actor.
2. Open the **US Public Transit Agency Leads & Intelligence Scraper**, pick `states` and (optionally) `orgCategories` / `modes`, then click **Start**.
3. Watch agencies stream into the dataset table.
4. **Export** as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS — or pull results via the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2).

### Input

```json
{
    "states": ["CA", "TX"],
    "modes": ["Bus"],
    "minVehicles": 50,
    "minOperatingExpenses": 20000000,
    "sortBy": "operatingBudget",
    "maxResults": 1000,
    "monitorMode": false
}
```

- **states** — two-letter codes (`CA`, `TX`, `NY`, …). Empty = all.
- **orgCategories** — `transit_authority`, `local_government`, `state_government`, `planning_mpo`, `private_for_profit`, `private_nonprofit`, `university`, `tribal`, `other`.
- **serviceModule** — `urban`, `rural`, or `any`.
- **modes** — match agencies operating a mode (`Bus`, `Light Rail`, `Heavy Rail`, `Commuter Rail`, `Ferry`, `Demand Response`, `Vanpool`, `Streetcar`).
- **railOperatorsOnly** — only rail operators.
- **reporterTypes** — `Full Reporter`, `Reduced Reporter`, `Rural Reporter`, …
- **minVehicles / maxVehicles** — fleet-size filters.
- **minServiceAreaPopulation / minAnnualRidership / minOperatingExpenses** — size & budget thresholds.
- **cities / nameQuery / hasWebsite** — location & quality filters.
- **includeServiceMetrics** *(default true)* — enrich with modes, ridership and operating budget.
- **sortBy** — `leadScore`, `fleetSize`, `ridership`, `operatingBudget`, `serviceAreaPop`, `name`.
- **includeRawFields** *(default true)* — attach the full original NTD row under `sourceFields`.
- **monitorMode / monitorKey** — only output NEW or CHANGED agencies since the last run with the same key.

### Output

One normalized lead record per transit agency:

```json
{
    "recordType": "transitAgency",
    "recordId": "NTD-90154",
    "ntdId": "90154",
    "agencyName": "Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority",
    "organizationType": "Independent Public Agency or Authority of Transit Service",
    "orgCategory": "transit_authority",
    "orgCategoryLabel": "Public transit authority",
    "reporterType": "Full Reporter",
    "reportingModule": "Urban",
    "modes": ["Bus", "Demand Response", "Heavy Rail", "Light Rail", "Vanpool"],
    "modeCount": 5,
    "isRailOperator": true,
    "annualRidership": 277000000,
    "operatingExpenses": 2100000000,
    "totalVehicles": 2300,
    "fleetTier": "large",
    "serviceAreaPopulation": 9800000,
    "urbanizedAreaName": "Los Angeles--Long Beach--Anaheim, CA",
    "website": "http://www.metro.net",
    "street": "One Gateway Plaza",
    "city": "Los Angeles",
    "state": "CA",
    "stateName": "California",
    "zip": "90012",
    "ftaRegion": "Region 9",
    "uei": "…",
    "latitude": 34.0561,
    "longitude": -118.2353,
    "leadSignals": ["largeFleet", "largeServiceArea", "highRidership", "largeOperatingBudget", "fullReporter", "hasWebsite", "urban", "railOperator", "transitAuthority", "hasUEI"],
    "leadScore": 100,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-06-22T04:00:00.000Z",
    "sourceFields": { "...": "full original NTD row" }
}
```

Fields are `null` only when the NTD genuinely doesn't publish them (e.g. a planning agency that operates no service has no modes/ridership).

### Monitor mode & scheduling

- Turn on **monitorMode** and give each saved search its own **monitorKey**.
- The actor remembers every agency it has emitted (in a named key-value store) and, on the next run, outputs **only new or changed** agencies — new reporters, fleet changes, ridership/budget changes, contact changes.
- Pair it with [Apify Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules). Monitor mode and the scheduler are complementary: the **schedule** decides *when* to run, **monitor mode** decides *what's new* — they never conflict.

### Automate & schedule

- **[Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2)** — start runs, fetch datasets, manage schedules over REST.
- **[apify-client for JavaScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/)** and **[Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/)** — official SDKs.
- **[Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules)** — run on each NTD release to track changes.
- **[Webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks)** — trigger CRM import, Slack alert or an email sequence when a run finishes.

```js
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'MY_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper').call({
    states: ['CA', 'TX'],
    modes: ['Bus'],
    minVehicles: 50,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(`Got ${items.length} transit agency leads`);
```

### Integrate with any app

Connect the dataset to 5,000+ apps — no code required:

- **[Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make)** — multi-step automation scenarios.
- **[Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier)** — push new agency leads straight into your CRM.
- **[Slack](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack)** — get pinged when a monitored search finds new agencies.
- **[Google Drive / Sheets](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive)** — auto-export every run to a spreadsheet.
- **[Airbyte](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/airbyte)** — pipe results into your data warehouse.
- **[GitHub](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/github)** — trigger runs from commits or releases.

### Use with AI assistants (MCP)

The output is clean, LLM-ready JSON. Call this actor from Claude, ChatGPT or any agent framework through the **[Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp)** — ask your assistant to "list California transit agencies with 100+ buses and a website" and let it run this scraper.

### Agent-ready: autonomous payments (x402 & Skyfire)

This actor is **agent-ready** — AI agents can discover it, run it, and **pay for it autonomously**, with no Apify account and no human in the loop. It uses [pay-per-event](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/publishing/monetize/pay-per-event) pricing and [limited permissions](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/development/permissions), so it qualifies for Apify's agentic-payment standards:

- **[x402](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/x402)** — an open, HTTP-native payment protocol. Agents pay per run in USDC on the Base network directly through the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) — no account, no API key.
- **[Skyfire](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/skyfire)** — agent-to-service payments for fully autonomous AI-agent workflows.

Building an AI agent, MCP tool, or autonomous data pipeline? This scraper is ready to plug in and pay as it goes.

### More scrapers from scrapesage

Build a complete **government & infrastructure go-to-market stack**:

- **[US Airport & Aviation Facility Leads Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/us-aviation-facility-leads-scraper)** — airports, heliports & seaplane bases with owner/manager contacts.
- **[FMCSA Trucking Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/fmcsa-trucking-scraper)** — motor carriers, brokers & freight companies with phone/email.
- **[US Auto Dealer Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/us-auto-dealer-scraper)** — licensed vehicle dealers & repair shops.
- **[Vehicle Manufacturer Leads Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/vehicle-manufacturer-leads-scraper)** — US vehicle & equipment manufacturers from the NHTSA registry.
- **[USAspending Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/usaspending-scraper)** — federal awards & recipients (transit grants & contractors).
- **[GSA eLibrary Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/gsa-elibrary-scraper)** — federal-contract holders (GSA schedule vendors).
- **[SAM.gov Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/sam-gov-scraper)** — federal entity registrations & opportunities.
- **[US School Leads Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/us-schools-scraper)** — schools, districts & colleges (school-bus & student-transport buyers).
- **[US Fire Department Leads Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/us-fire-department-leads-scraper)** — fire departments (public-fleet & apparatus buyers).
- **[Website Contact Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/website-contact-scraper)** — enrich agency websites with emails, phones & socials.

### Tips

- **Big-fleet ICP**: `minVehicles: 100` + `sortBy: "fleetSize"` surfaces the largest fleets first (rolling-stock / EV-bus / fleet-software buyers).
- **Budget ICP**: `minOperatingExpenses: 20000000` + `sortBy: "operatingBudget"` targets agencies with real purchasing power.
- **Rail vendors**: `railOperatorsOnly: true` or `modes: ["Light Rail", "Heavy Rail", "Commuter Rail"]`.
- **Rural programs**: `serviceModule: "rural"` for rural transit grants/vendors.
- **Fresh changes only**: turn on `monitorMode` + a `monitorKey` and schedule on each NTD release.
- **Email enrichment**: the NTD publishes website + address; pair with the [Website Contact Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/website-contact-scraper) to add emails.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** The official Federal Transit Administration (FTA) National Transit Database (NTD), published as government open data on `datahub.transportation.gov`. Each record links back under `sourceUrl`.

**Does it include phone numbers?** The public NTD agency table publishes website + mailing address (not phone). Agency name + website + full address already make these directly actionable; pair with the [Website Contact Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/website-contact-scraper) for emails/phones.

**What are modes, ridership and operating budget?** They come from the NTD service-metrics table, aggregated per agency for the latest reporting year and joined on the NTD ID. Turn off `includeServiceMetrics` to skip the enrichment.

**Can I export to Google Sheets, CSV or Excel?** Yes — one click in the dataset view, or automatically every run via the [Google Drive integration](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive).

**Is scraping this data legal?** It collects publicly available federal open data only. You are responsible for using the data in compliance with applicable laws and the portal's terms.

**A field is null — why?** The NTD doesn't publish that field for that agency (e.g. a planning agency that operates no service has no modes/ridership). Fields are `null` only when the data genuinely doesn't exist.

### Need help?

Open an issue on the actor's **Issues** tab, or visit the [Apify help center](https://help.apify.com/). Feature requests — including more NTD tables (facilities, fares, asset inventory) — are welcome; this actor is actively maintained.

# Actor input Schema

## `states` (type: `array`):

Two-letter state/territory codes to include (e.g. <code>CA</code>, <code>TX</code>, <code>NY</code>). Leave empty for all 50 states + DC + territories.

## `orgCategories` (type: `array`):

Filter by agency organization category: <code>transit\_authority</code>, <code>local\_government</code>, <code>state\_government</code>, <code>planning\_mpo</code>, <code>private\_for\_profit</code>, <code>private\_nonprofit</code>, <code>university</code>, <code>tribal</code>, <code>other</code>. Leave empty for all.

## `serviceModule` (type: `string`):

Limit to urban or rural reporters.

## `modes` (type: `array`):

Only include agencies that operate one of these modes (matched on mode name, case-insensitive). Examples: <code>Bus</code>, <code>Light Rail</code>, <code>Heavy Rail</code>, <code>Commuter Rail</code>, <code>Ferry</code>, <code>Demand Response</code>, <code>Vanpool</code>, <code>Streetcar</code>.

## `railOperatorsOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only include agencies that operate a rail mode (light/heavy/commuter rail, streetcar, monorail).

## `reporterTypes` (type: `array`):

Filter by NTD reporter type (e.g. <code>Full Reporter</code>, <code>Reduced Reporter</code>, <code>Rural Reporter</code>, <code>Building Reporter</code>).

## `minVehicles` (type: `integer`):

Only include agencies with at least this many vehicles operated in maximum service (fleet size). Larger fleets are prime targets for rolling-stock, EV-bus and fleet software.

## `maxVehicles` (type: `integer`):

Only include agencies with at most this many vehicles.

## `minServiceAreaPopulation` (type: `integer`):

Only include agencies whose service-area population is at least this.

## `minAnnualRidership` (type: `integer`):

Only include agencies with at least this many annual unlinked passenger trips (requires service metrics).

## `minOperatingExpenses` (type: `integer`):

Only include agencies whose total annual operating expenses are at least this (a buying-power signal; requires service metrics).

## `cities` (type: `array`):

Only include agencies whose city contains one of these (case-insensitive).

## `nameQuery` (type: `string`):

Only include agencies whose name or urbanized-area name contains this text (case-insensitive).

## `hasWebsite` (type: `boolean`):

Only include agencies that list a website.

## `includeServiceMetrics` (type: `boolean`):

Enrich each agency with modes operated, annual ridership and total operating expenses by joining the NTD service-metrics table. Recommended (small extra fetch).

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Order of the output records.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of agency lead records to output.

## `includeRawFields` (type: `boolean`):

Attach the full original NTD row to each record under <code>sourceFields</code> (richest possible dataset).

## `monitorMode` (type: `boolean`):

Only output agencies that are NEW or CHANGED since the last run with the same Monitor key. Pairs perfectly with Apify Schedules to track new reporters, fleet/budget/ridership changes.

## `monitorKey` (type: `string`):

Names the saved monitor state. Use one key per saved search so different schedules don't overwrite each other.

## `deduplicateResults` (type: `boolean`):

Drop duplicate agencies within a run (recommended).

## `socrataAppToken` (type: `string`):

Optional Socrata app token to raise rate limits. Not required — the NTD is keyless.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. Not needed — the NTD open-data API is reachable directly. Leave proxy off for the cheapest, fastest runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "states": [
    "CA"
  ],
  "serviceModule": "any",
  "railOperatorsOnly": false,
  "hasWebsite": false,
  "includeServiceMetrics": true,
  "sortBy": "leadScore",
  "maxResults": 1000,
  "includeRawFields": true,
  "monitorMode": false,
  "monitorKey": "default",
  "deduplicateResults": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All scraped transit-agency lead records as JSON items in the default dataset.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "states": [
        "CA"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "states": ["CA"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "states": [
    "CA"
  ]
}' |
apify call scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapesage/us-transit-agency-leads-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5ZFrhAsHkcJgL3PAQ/builds/f54qL86lY7g6Z2Hr1/openapi.json