{"id": "malta-mt", "label": "Malta, MT", "city": "Malta", "state": "MT", "county": "Phillips County", "geography": "single-radius town", "population": 1846, "researched_on": "2026-09-09", "pipeline_version": "2.1.0", "model": "grok-4.6", "counts": {"total": 80, "sourced": 26, "derived": 32, "estimated": 22}, "gaps": 3, "citations": {"checked": 9, "passed": 8, "failed": 1}, "research_cost_usd": 5.1722, "summary": "This is a planning tool, not a prediction. Of the 80 numbers behind a season in Malta, 26 are published figures, 32 are worked out from published figures, and 22 are our own estimates. 43 of them were read straight out of a federal file that covers every city in the country, so there was no citation to trust and no page to misread. You can change any of them. Your result is only as good as the numbers you agree with.", "pack": {"id": "malta-mt", "city": "Malta", "state": "MT", "label": "Malta, MT", "county": "Phillips County", "geography_type": "single-radius town", "researched_on": "2026-09-09", "pipeline_version": "2.1.0", "model": "grok-4.6", "records": [{"id": "population", "label": "People living here", "value": 1846, "unit": "people", "basis": "sourced", "why": "US Census Bureau vintage 2025 population estimate for Malta city, Montana.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Census Bureau, Subcounty Population Estimates", "date": "2025", "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "SUMLEV 162, GEOID 3047425 -- Malta city, Montana"}, "range": [923, 3692], "editable": true, "theme": "people", "bulk": true}, {"id": "land_area_sqmi", "label": "How big the city is", "value": 1.074, "unit": "sq mi", "basis": "sourced", "why": "Census Bureau Gazetteer land area for Malta city. Water is excluded.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Census Bureau Gazetteer", "date": "2025", "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_30.txt", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-08", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "GEOID 3047425 -- Malta city"}, "range": [0.5, 2.1], "editable": true, "theme": "people", "bulk": true}, {"id": "density", "label": "People per square mile", "value": 1719, "unit": "people/sq mi", "basis": "derived", "why": "How tightly packed the town is, which is what decides how far an average trip runs and how much empty driving there is between fares.", "math": "1,846 residents divided by 1.074 square miles of land = 1,719 people per square mile.", "source": null, "range": [687, 4297], "editable": true, "theme": "people", "bulk": true}, {"id": "metro_population", "label": "People in the surrounding county", "value": 4203, "unit": "people", "basis": "sourced", "why": "US Census Bureau vintage 2025 estimate for Phillips County, Montana. This is the pool a fleet actually draws on, because trips do not stop at the city line.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Census Bureau, County Population Estimates", "date": "2025", "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/counties/totals/co-est2025-alldata.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "SUMLEV 050, GEOID 30071 -- Phillips County, Montana"}, "range": [2101, 8406], "editable": true, "theme": "people", "bulk": true}, {"id": "airport_name", "label": "Airport name", "value": "Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The nearest commercial service airport to this city in the FAA's own traffic file, matched by distance from the Census Bureau's internal point for the city rather than by name.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "FAA, CY2024 Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) Data for U.S. Airports", "date": "CY2024", "url": "https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "airport_code", "label": "Airport code", "value": "GGW", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The FAA location identifier, which is the key this pack joins the traffic file and the airport coordinate file on.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "FAA, CY2024 Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) Data for U.S. Airports", "date": "CY2024", "url": "https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "airport_passengers_year", "label": "Passengers boarding a year", "value": 2970, "unit": "enplanements/year", "basis": "sourced", "why": "FAA calendar year 2024 ENPLANEMENTS -- passengers BOARDING, which is about half of the arrivals-plus-departures figure an airport press release quotes. This is the federal count, read out of the FAA's own file.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "FAA, CY2024 Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) Data for U.S. Airports", "date": "CY2024", "url": "https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT"}, "range": [1485, 5940], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "airport_traffic_change_pct", "label": "Change in airport traffic, 2023 to 2024", "value": 2.7, "unit": "%", "basis": "derived", "why": "Whether the airport is growing or shrinking, which says more about the direction of airport ride demand than the level does.", "math": "FAA CY2024 enplanements 2,970 against CY2023 2,892, both from the same file (https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx): (2,970 - 2,892) / 2,892 = 2.7%.", "source": null, "range": [-50, 50], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "airport_distance_mi", "label": "Airport distance from the city centre", "value": 58.6, "unit": "mi", "basis": "derived", "why": "STRAIGHT-LINE miles from the Census Bureau's internal point for the city to the FAA's published coordinate for the airport. A road trip is longer -- there is no routing engine here and we do not pretend there is -- so treat this as the floor.", "math": "Great-circle distance between the city's Census internal point (48.355497, -107.870227, from the Census Gazetteer place file) and the FAA's airport coordinate (48.212452, -106.614817, from https://services6.arcgis.com/ssFJjBXIUyZDrSYZ/arcgis/rest/services/US_Airport/FeatureServer/0) = 58.6 miles. Straight line, not road miles.", "source": null, "range": [29.3, 146.4], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "airport_alternatives_note", "label": "Busier airports within reach", "value": "L M Clayton (OLF) 107 mi away, 3,183 boardings a year; Havre City-County (HVR) 88 mi away, 3,095 boardings a year", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The nearest airport is not always the one people use. These are the busier commercial airports within 120 miles, from the same FAA file, so a reader can see the choice a traveller here actually has.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "FAA, CY2024 Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) Data for U.S. Airports", "date": "CY2024", "url": "https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "airport"}, {"id": "power_state_avg", "label": "Average price of electricity in this state", "value": 0.1514, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The EIA's own average price to residential customers across Montana in June 2026. This is the all-in price actually billed, averaged over every utility in the state -- not a tariff line.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A", "date": "June 2026", "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/xls/table_5_06_a.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Montana, June 2026"}, "range": [0.076, 0.303], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_state_avg_commercial", "label": "Average business electricity price in this state", "value": 0.1348, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The same EIA table, commercial sector. A depot charging cars overnight is billed on a commercial tariff, not a residential one, so this is usually the closer comparison.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A", "date": "June 2026", "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/xls/table_5_06_a.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Montana, June 2026"}, "range": [0.067, 0.27], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_state_avg_ytd", "label": "Average electricity price this year so far", "value": 0.1377, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The same EIA series averaged across the year to date rather than a single month. A tool that models a whole season should lean on this one: a single month can be 5% off the year in either direction, and June 2026 YTD is a season, not a day.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (year to date)", "date": "June 2026 YTD", "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/xls/table_5_06_b.xlsx", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "Montana, June 2026 YTD"}, "range": [0.069, 0.275], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_utility", "label": "Electric utility", "value": "NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT)", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The electric utility whose EIA-861 service territory includes Phillips County, MT -- the same county this city sits in. Matched on the county, not on the utility's trading name. 4 utilities file a service territory in this county; this is the largest by customers and the others are listed in power_utility_alternatives.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 2024, service territory and sales to ultimate customers", "date": "2024", "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "utility NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT) (#12825), Phillips County County rows, MT"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_utility_alternatives", "label": "Other utilities in this county", "value": "Big Flat Electric Coop Inc (2,075 customers); NorVal Electric Cooperative, Inc (1,937 customers); WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration (0 customers)", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "Every other utility whose EIA-861 service territory covers this county. A city on the edge of a county can be on any of them, so the choice is shown rather than hidden.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 2024, service territory and sales to ultimate customers", "date": "2024", "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "utility NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT) (#12825), Phillips County County rows, MT"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_utility_rate", "label": "What this utility's residential customers pay on average", "value": 0.1423, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "derived", "why": "Revenue divided by sales for NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT), out of the EIA's own annual file. Bundled service only: a delivery-only row charges a delivery fee against the full kilowatt-hours and folding it in produces a rate nobody is billed.", "math": "Form EIA-861 2024 for NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT): residential revenue of $398,459.0 thousand against 2,800,513 MWh sold. (398,459.0 x 1,000 dollars) / (2,800,513 x 1,000 kWh) = $0.1423 a kWh. This is the utility's own average across its whole residential class -- it is not a tariff, and a customer on a particular rate schedule will pay more or less.", "source": null, "range": [0.071, 0.285], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "power_utility_rate_commercial", "label": "What this utility's business customers pay on average", "value": 0.1346, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "derived", "why": "The same calculation for the commercial class, which is the one a leased bay with a charger would be billed on.", "math": "Form EIA-861 2024 for NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT): commercial revenue of $415,977.0 thousand against 3,090,579 MWh sold, so $0.1346 a kWh.", "source": null, "range": [0.067, 0.269], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "power"}, {"id": "climate_station", "label": "Weather station these figures come from", "value": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 miles from the city centre", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The nearest NOAA station with a complete thirty-year record, chosen by distance from the Census Bureau's internal point for the city. 0 nearer station(s) were skipped because they measure rainfall but not temperature.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station USC00245334", "date": "1991-2020", "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245334.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre"}, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "temp_annual_avg_f", "label": "Average temperature over the year", "value": 44.9, "unit": "F", "basis": "derived", "why": "The mean of the twelve monthly normals, 1991-2020.", "math": "NOAA 1991-2020 monthly normals for station USC00245334: the twelve MLY-TAVG-NORMAL values averaged = 44.9F.", "source": null, "range": [29.9, 59.9], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "temp_coldest_month_avg_f", "label": "Average temperature in the coldest month", "value": 17.6, "unit": "F", "basis": "sourced", "why": "January is the coldest month here on the 1991-2020 normals. Cold is what puts range into a battery pack and puts people into a car instead of on a bike.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station USC00245334", "date": "1991-2020", "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245334.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre"}, "range": [2.6, 32.6], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "temp_hottest_month_avg_f", "label": "Average temperature in the hottest month", "value": 71.9, "unit": "F", "basis": "sourced", "why": "July is the hottest month here on the 1991-2020 normals.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station USC00245334", "date": "1991-2020", "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245334.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre"}, "range": [56.9, 86.9], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "precip_year_in", "label": "Rain and melted snow in a year", "value": 13.35, "unit": "in/year", "basis": "derived", "why": "The twelve monthly precipitation normals added up. Wet weather is one of the few things that reliably lifts ride-hail demand.", "math": "NOAA 1991-2020 monthly normals for station USC00245334: the twelve MLY-PRCP-NORMAL values summed = 13.35 inches a year.", "source": null, "range": [6.7, 24.0], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "wet_days_year", "label": "Days a year with measurable rain", "value": 82.9, "unit": "days/year", "basis": "derived", "why": "Days with at least a hundredth of an inch. The COUNT of wet days moves demand more than the total depth does -- one downpour is one busy evening.", "math": "NOAA 1991-2020 normals for station USC00245334: the twelve MLY-PRCP-AVGNDS-GE001HI values summed = 82.9 days a year.", "source": null, "range": [0, 250], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "snow_year_in", "label": "Snow in a year", "value": 32.2, "unit": "in/year", "basis": "derived", "why": "From station USC00245340, 35.7 miles away -- NOT the temperature station above. Fewer stations report snowfall than report temperature, so the nearest one that does is used and named rather than the figure being written down as zero.", "math": "NOAA 1991-2020 normals for station MALTA 35 S, MT US (USC00245340), 35.7 miles from the city centre: the twelve MLY-SNOW-NORMAL values summed = 32.2 inches a year.", "source": null, "range": [0, 64], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "snow_days_year", "label": "Days a year with measurable snow", "value": 17.7, "unit": "days/year", "basis": "sourced", "why": "Days with at least a tenth of an inch of snowfall, from the same station as the annual total.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station USC00245340", "date": "1991-2020", "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245340.csv", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "MALTA 35 S, MT US (USC00245340), 35.7 mi from the city centre"}, "range": [0, 200], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "weather"}, {"id": "adult_share", "label": "Share of residents who are adults", "value": 0.7333, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "Residents 18 and over in Malta, MT, from the Census Bureau's own age table. This is the first link in the rides-a-day chain, so it is worth having from the primary file rather than a re-publication of it.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B01001 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: total population 2,100, of whom 560 are under 18 (the eight under-18 age bands for males and females). (2,100 - 560) / 2,100 = 0.7333.", "source": null, "range": [0.55, 0.95], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "median_household_income", "label": "What a household here earns in a year", "value": 54483, "unit": "$/year", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The median household income in Malta, MT. It is the ceiling on what a ride can be priced at before people walk, and it is published for every city in the country.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B19013", "date": "2020-2024", "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b19013.dat", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-07", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "GEO_ID 1600000US3047425, B19013_E001"}, "range": [27241, 108966], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "no_vehicle_share", "label": "Share of households with no car", "value": 0.0, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "Households in Malta, MT with no vehicle available. This is the strongest published local signal there is for who has to hire a ride, and it is the one number in this pack that most directly separates a town where everyone drives from one where a fleet has a market.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B25044 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 854 occupied households, of which 0 owner-occupied (B25044_E003) and 0 renter-occupied (B25044_E010) have no vehicle available. (0 + 0) / 854 = 0.0000, or 0.0%.", "source": null, "range": [0, 0.6], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "commute_drove_alone_share", "label": "Share who drive to work alone", "value": 0.7805, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "How car-shaped the town is. A place where four in five drive alone is one where a ride is a substitute for a car nobody wants to give up.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 672 of 861 workers 16 and over (B08301_E003 / B08301_E001) = 0.7805, or 78.05%.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "commute_transit_share", "label": "Share who take public transport to work", "value": 0.0046, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "The competition, and the floor under demand when it stops running at night.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 4 of 861 workers 16 and over (B08301_E010 / B08301_E001) = 0.0046, or 0.46%.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "commute_taxi_ridehail_share", "label": "Share who commute by taxi or ride-hail", "value": 0.0, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "The Census counts this line explicitly. It is a small number everywhere, and it is the only published local measurement of ride-hail use there is.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 0 of 861 workers 16 and over (B08301_E016 / B08301_E001) = 0.0000, or 0.00%.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "commute_wfh_share", "label": "Share who work from home", "value": 0.0871, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "Workers who make no commute trip at all, which takes the top off weekday morning demand.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 75 of 861 workers 16 and over (B08301_E021 / B08301_E001) = 0.0871, or 8.71%.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "mean_commute_minutes", "label": "How long the average commute takes", "value": 11.8, "unit": "minutes", "basis": "derived", "why": "The mean one-way journey to work in Malta, MT. It is the best published proxy for how far a typical local trip runs, and the trip-length estimate should be argued against it.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year tables B08013 and B08303 for GEO_ID 1600000US3047425: 9,240 aggregate minutes of travel to work divided by 786 workers who did not work from home = 11.8 minutes.", "source": null, "range": [5, 60], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "people"}, {"id": "local_cleaner_wage", "label": "What a car cleaner is paid here", "value": 16.89, "unit": "$/hour", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The median hourly wage for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment (occupation 53-7061) in East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' own May 2024 estimates. This is the single biggest component of every cleaning price below, and it is published for every metropolitan AND non-metropolitan area in the country -- which is why a town of three thousand people gets a real figure here and a web search for a local detailer gets nothing.", "math": "BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024, occupation 53-7061, area area 'East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area', 120 people employed in it: median hourly wage $16.89. The national median for the same occupation is $16.96, so this town's labour index is 16.89 / 16.96 = 0.996.", "source": {"name": "US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024", "date": "2024-05", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24ma.zip", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "read directly out of the federal bulk file at this URL, matched on a key rather than on a name", "row_key": "OCC_CODE 53-7061, AREA 3000006 -- East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area"}, "range": [10.13, 30.4], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024", "date": "2024-05", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24ma.zip", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 16.89, "unit": "$/hour", "note": "occupation 53-7061, East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area"}], "theme": "costs"}, {"id": "labour_note", "label": "What hand work costs here", "value": "Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment in East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area are paid a median of $16.89 an hour (BLS May 2024, occupation 53-7061, 120 employed). The national median for the same job is $16.96, so hand work here costs 100% of what it costs nationally.", "unit": "", "basis": "derived", "why": "The wage that scales every cleaning price below. It is published for every metropolitan and non-metropolitan area in the country, which is why a town of three thousand people gets a real figure where a web search for a local detailer's rate gets nothing.", "math": "Read out of the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2024 bulk files, occupation 53-7061, at the area level. No search was made for it.", "source": null, "range": null, "editable": true, "depends_on": ["local_cleaner_wage"], "bulk": true, "theme": "costs"}, {"id": "local_labour_index", "label": "How this town's labour costs compare with the country", "value": 0.996, "unit": "x national", "basis": "derived", "why": "Everything a person does by hand costs roughly what a person costs here. This one ratio scales every cleaning price in the pack, and it is measured rather than guessed.", "math": "BLS May 2024, occupation 53-7061 (Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment): the area figure for 'East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area' is $16.89 an hour against $16.96 nationally, so 16.89 / 16.96 = 0.996. This is a genuine local labour market estimate.", "source": null, "range": [0.5, 2.0], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "costs"}, {"id": "local_rent_index", "label": "How this town's property costs compare with the country", "value": 0.447, "unit": "x national", "basis": "derived", "why": "Rent is the other half of a local cost. There is no published rent for small commercial bays anywhere in the country, so the pack uses the one property price that IS published for 32,330 places -- what people pay to rent a home here against what they pay nationally. It is housing, not industrial space, and it is used as a proxy on purpose rather than by accident.", "math": "ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B25064, median gross rent: $631 a month in Malta, MT (place level) against $1,413 for the United States from the same table (GEO_ID 0100000US), so 631 / 1413 = 0.447.", "source": null, "range": [0.2, 3.0], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "theme": "costs"}, {"id": "clean_wipe_cost", "label": "A quick interior wipe between shifts", "value": 35, "unit": "$", "basis": "derived", "why": "This is a derivation, not a local quote: a national published figure scaled by a published local index. Nobody publishes a quick contracted interior wipe-down in a town this size, because it is a manual service: keeping a price list current is work, and the price is whatever the owner says on the day. A real quote from a real local supplier beats this number, and it is exactly what you should type over it. The national half of it is what Uber and Lyft themselves pay a driver for a minor mess -- published, national, and kept current because money moves on it every day.", "math": "NATIONAL BASELINE $35.00, then scaled to this town.\n  Lyft publishes a flat $25 for minor 'small food/beverage spills, scuff marks, mud, dirt, or animal fur in the car'.\n  Uber publishes $30 to $60 for a minor mess: 'spills or messes that require extensive cleaning' -- centre $45.00.\n  Average of the two operators' central values: ($25 + $45.00) / 2 = $35.00.\n  Both platforms pay the fee straight to the driver, and Uber requires an itemised receipt from a cleaning service for a professional claim, so these tiers are the platforms' own published view of what such a clean costs.\n  LOCAL STEP: $35.00 x labour index 0.996 = $35.\n  DIRECTION OF ERROR, stated rather than hidden: a platform fee prices a MESS, not a booked clean, so it brackets the right number rather than being it. Neither page carries a publication date; both were read on 2026-09-09.", "source": null, "range": [14, 87], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["local_labour_index"], "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "Lyft, damage fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115012927367-I-was-charged-a-damage-fee", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 25.0, "unit": "$", "note": "minor damage"}, {"name": "Uber, driver cleaning fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.uber.com/en/riders/article/uber-driver-cleaning-fee-policy?nodeId=2dba264f-edb9-4ae7-8186-68dd399874f0", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": [30.0, 60.0], "unit": "$", "note": "minor mess"}], "theme": "costs", "game_id": "wipe_cost_contract"}, {"id": "clean_deep_cost", "label": "A full interior clean", "value": 72, "unit": "$", "basis": "derived", "why": "This is a derivation, not a local quote: a national published figure scaled by a published local index. Nobody publishes a full interior detail in a town this size, because it is a manual service: keeping a price list current is work, and the price is whatever the owner says on the day. A real quote from a real local supplier beats this number, and it is exactly what you should type over it. The national half of it is what Uber and Lyft themselves pay a driver for a moderate mess -- published, national, and kept current because money moves on it every day.", "math": "NATIONAL BASELINE $72.50, then scaled to this town.\n  Lyft publishes a flat $75 for moderate 'biowaste outside of the car'.\n  Uber publishes $55 to $85 for a moderate mess: 'larger contained spills or biological messes that require focused cleaning, time, and specialized supplies' -- centre $70.00.\n  Average of the two operators' central values: ($75 + $70.00) / 2 = $72.50.\n  Both platforms pay the fee straight to the driver, and Uber requires an itemised receipt from a cleaning service for a professional claim, so these tiers are the platforms' own published view of what such a clean costs.\n  LOCAL STEP: $72.50 x labour index 0.996 = $72.\n  DIRECTION OF ERROR, stated rather than hidden: a platform fee prices a MESS, not a booked clean, so it brackets the right number rather than being it. Neither page carries a publication date; both were read on 2026-09-09.", "source": null, "range": [29, 181], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["local_labour_index"], "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "Lyft, damage fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115012927367-I-was-charged-a-damage-fee", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 75.0, "unit": "$", "note": "moderate damage"}, {"name": "Uber, driver cleaning fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.uber.com/en/riders/article/uber-driver-cleaning-fee-policy?nodeId=2dba264f-edb9-4ae7-8186-68dd399874f0", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": [55.0, 85.0], "unit": "$", "note": "moderate mess"}], "theme": "costs", "game_id": "deep_clean_cost"}, {"id": "clean_biohazard_cost", "label": "A biohazard clean-out", "value": 151, "unit": "$", "basis": "derived", "why": "This is a derivation, not a local quote: a national published figure scaled by a published local index. Nobody publishes an emergency biohazard clean-out in a town this size, because it is a manual service: keeping a price list current is work, and the price is whatever the owner says on the day. A real quote from a real local supplier beats this number, and it is exactly what you should type over it. The national half of it is what Uber and Lyft themselves pay a driver for a severe mess -- published, national, and kept current because money moves on it every day.", "math": "NATIONAL BASELINE $151.25, then scaled to this town.\n  Lyft publishes a flat $150 for severe 'large biowaste spills that would require specialized cleaning'.\n  Uber publishes $80 to $225 for a severe mess: 'substantial messes involving large amounts of bodily fluids or difficult-to-clean matter across multiple areas' -- centre $152.50.\n  Average of the two operators' central values: ($150 + $152.50) / 2 = $151.25.\n  Both platforms pay the fee straight to the driver, and Uber requires an itemised receipt from a cleaning service for a professional claim, so these tiers are the platforms' own published view of what such a clean costs.\n  LOCAL STEP: $151.25 x labour index 0.996 = $151.\n  DIRECTION OF ERROR, stated rather than hidden: a platform fee prices a MESS, not a booked clean, so it brackets the right number rather than being it. Neither page carries a publication date; both were read on 2026-09-09.", "source": null, "range": [60, 377], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["local_labour_index"], "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "Lyft, damage fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115012927367-I-was-charged-a-damage-fee", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 150.0, "unit": "$", "note": "severe damage"}, {"name": "Uber, driver cleaning fee policy", "date": null, "url": "https://help.uber.com/en/riders/article/uber-driver-cleaning-fee-policy?nodeId=2dba264f-edb9-4ae7-8186-68dd399874f0", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": [80.0, 225.0], "unit": "$", "note": "severe mess"}], "theme": "costs", "game_id": "bio_contractor_cost"}, {"id": "depot_rent_month", "label": "A small commercial bay, per month", "value": 569, "unit": "$/month", "basis": "derived", "why": "This is a derivation, not a local quote: a national published figure scaled by a published local index. Nobody publishes what a 1,500 square foot bay lets for in a town this size, because small commercial bays let privately, one handshake at a time, and no index tracks them. A real quote from a real local supplier beats this number, and it is exactly what you should type over it.", "math": "NATIONAL BASELINE: Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat United States Industrial Q1 2026 reports an overall US industrial asking rent of $10.20 a square foot a year, NNN. 1,500 square feet x $10.20 = $15,300 a year = $1,275.00 a month nationally.\n  LOCAL STEP: $1,275.00 x rent index 0.447 = $569 a month.\n  TWO WAYS THIS IS LOW, said rather than hidden: the national figure is the overall industrial average, dominated by large logistics buildings, and a 1,500 square foot service bay asks MORE per square foot than a 500,000 square foot warehouse -- no premium is applied because no published figure supports one. And NNN means taxes, insurance and common-area costs are on top of this. Treat it as a floor. Read on 2026-09-09.", "source": null, "range": [228, 1708], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["local_rent_index"], "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat United States Industrial Q1 2026", "date": "2026-Q1", "url": "https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/media/cw/marketbeat-pdfs/2026/q1/us-reports/national/q12026usindustrialmarketbeat.pdf", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 10.2, "unit": "$/sq ft/year", "note": "overall US industrial asking rent, NNN"}], "theme": "costs", "game_id": "depot_bay_rent"}, {"id": "insurance_base_month", "label": "Insurance on the first car", "value": 261, "unit": "$/month", "basis": "derived", "why": "This is a derivation, not a local quote: a national published figure scaled by a published local index. Nobody publishes a price for commercial for-hire cover on a single car in a town this size, because a premium is quoted to a particular operator on particular facts, and no insurer publishes a rate table for for-hire cars. A real quote from a real local supplier beats this number, and it is exactly what you should type over it. What stands in for it is general commercial auto adjusted upward for for-hire use, and that adjustment is our judgement, not a published figure.", "math": "NATIONAL BASELINE: Insureon, Commercial auto insurance cost (updated 2026-03-04) reports a median of $245 a month for commercial auto across 100,000 small-business policyholders, calculated as 'the median cost of policies sold by leading insurance carriers to Insureon's small business customers'.\n  FOR-HIRE UPLIFT x1.40 -- THIS IS OUR JUDGEMENT, NOT A PUBLISHED FIGURE. Progressive publish their own 2025 new-policy premium per power unit by class: business auto $276 a month against for-hire specialty truck $734 and for-hire transport truck $926, so their for-hire classes run 2.7 to 3.4 times general business auto. Those classes are TRUCKS; a for-hire passenger car sits between a tradesman's van and a truck, and 1.40 is a conservative reading of that gap.\n  STATE STEP: NAIC 2023 average auto expenditure is $975.01 in MT against $1,281.60 countrywide, so the state index is 975.01 / 1281.60 = 0.761. It is PERSONAL auto -- nobody publishes commercial for-hire premiums by state -- but what it measures is the part that genuinely varies between states: the loss environment, the tort and rate-filing regime, the uninsured rate and the minimum limits.\n  $245 x 1.40 x 0.761 = $261 a month. This is the number in the pack most worth replacing with a real quote. Read on 2026-09-09.", "source": null, "range": [104, 783], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "bulk": true, "derived_from": [{"name": "Insureon, Commercial auto insurance cost", "date": "2026-03-04", "url": "https://www.insureon.com/small-business-insurance/commercial-auto/cost", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 245.0, "unit": "$/month", "note": "median commercial auto, small business"}, {"name": "Progressive Commercial, average commercial auto cost by business type", "date": "2025", "url": "https://www.progressivecommercial.com/commercial-auto-insurance/commercial-auto-cost/", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "note": "evidence for the direction and rough size of a for-hire uplift"}, {"name": "National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 2023 Auto Insurance Database Average Premium Supplement, Table 4", "date": "2025-06", "url": "https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/aut-db_1.pdf", "read_on": "2026-09-09", "value": 975.01, "unit": "$/year", "note": "MT average expenditure per insured vehicle, personal auto"}], "theme": "costs", "game_id": "insurance_base"}, {"id": "insurance_per_car_month", "label": "Insurance on each car after the first", "value": 222, "unit": "$/month", "basis": "derived", "why": "What each additional vehicle adds to the premium. Lower than the first car because a fleet policy spreads the administrative part of a premium across the vehicles while the risk part scales with them -- which is part of why growing is the way out of the trap.", "math": "$261 (the first car, above) x 0.85 = $222. NOBODY PUBLISHES THAT SPLIT: the 0.85 is ours, and it is the reason a second car is cheaper to run than the first.", "source": null, "range": [89, 666], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["insurance_base_month"], "bulk": true, "theme": "costs", "game_id": "insurance_per_car"}, {"id": "power_offpeak", "theme": "power", "label": "Overnight electricity", "value": 0.114, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "derived", "why": "NorthWestern Energy publishes no current time-of-use tariff a small operator in Malta could take (only a 2012 demo), so this overnight window uses an imposed 15% discount off the utility's 2024 bundled commercial average of $0.1346/kWh.", "math": "Commercial bundled average $0.1346 × 0.85 = $0.1144, rounded to $0.114. Hours midnight–06:00 are 25% of the day; the 15% overnight discount (and matching evening premium) is a shape we imposed, not a published tariff, so a small operator charging cars overnight would actually pay the flat commercial rate. Likely conservative because it ignores demand charges on GSEDS-1.", "source": null, "range": [0.08, 0.2], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "game_id": "power_offpeak"}, {"id": "power_mid", "theme": "power", "label": "Daytime electricity", "value": 0.135, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "derived", "why": "Same as off-peak: no TOU tariff exists, so the 06:00–16:00 window is set at the utility commercial bundled average.", "math": "Utility 2024 EIA-861 commercial bundled price $0.1346 rounded to $0.135. Mid-day hours are ~42% of the day; this is the imposed flat shape, not a fact about any NorthWestern tariff.", "source": null, "range": [0.08, 0.2], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "game_id": "power_mid"}, {"id": "power_onpeak", "theme": "power", "label": "Evening electricity", "value": 0.155, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "derived", "why": "Same as off-peak: no TOU tariff exists, so the 16:00–midnight window uses an imposed 15% premium on the commercial bundled average.", "math": "Commercial bundled average $0.1346 × 1.15 = $0.1548, rounded to $0.155. Evening hours are 33% of the day; the premium is a shape we imposed so the three periods roughly average back to the published commercial rate.", "source": null, "range": [0.08, 0.25], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "game_id": "power_onpeak"}, {"id": "power_dcfc", "theme": "power", "label": "Public DC fast charger", "value": 0.42, "unit": "$/kWh", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No public DC fast charger exists in Malta, MT (tiny Hi-Line town of ~1,800); this is a typical Montana network price from Tesla, Electrify America and EVgo.", "math": "Montana public DCFC prices reported as $0.41 (Tesla Supercharger), $0.46 (Electrify America) and $0.38 (EVgo) average $0.417, rounded to $0.42. Rural Hi-Line sites if built under NEVI on US-2 would likely be at or above this; Montana also adds a 3¢/kWh public charging tax. Direction of uncertainty: could be 10–20% higher in a town this small.", "source": null, "range": [0.25, 0.7], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "game_id": "supercharger_kwh", "federal_check": {"verdict": "confirmed", "subject": "chargers", "claim": "no public DC fast charger here", "federal": "the DOE/AFDC snapshot lists 0 open public DC fast-charging sites (0 fast ports) within 10 miles -- agrees with the note", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 2}}, {"id": "power_tou_note", "theme": "power", "label": "Time-of-use tariff available", "value": "No. Only a 2012 Residential Smart Grid Time-of-Use Demo (RSGTOUD-1) is listed; current residential is flat REDS-1 and small commercial is flat GSEDS-1.", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The utility's own Montana electric rates page lists every current schedule; the sole TOU item is a 14-year-old demo that is not offered to new customers. This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "NorthWestern Energy", "date": "2026-01", "url": "https://www.northwesternenergy.com/billing-payment/rates-tariffs/rates-tariffs-montana/electric-rates-tariffs", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the page carries 9 of the 14 distinctive words in this note"}, "range": [], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "ridehail_present", "theme": "demand", "label": "Ride-hail and taxi supply", "value": "None locally: Uber/Lyft hold statewide Montana PSC certificates but Uber’s own city list omits Malta; no local taxi company found. Supply is effectively zero.", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Uber’s published Montana city list does not include Malta, and on-the-ground reporting finds reliable Uber only in Bozeman, Missoula, Billings and ski towns—Great Falls already has essentially none. Unconfirmed -- treated as our estimate.", "math": "Verification failed on https://roamingmontana.com/montana-uber-guide/: the cited page loads but does not carry the figure (the page carries only 6 of the 14 distinctive words in this note). We checked the citation the research pass gave us and could not confirm it, so this number is presented as our own estimate rather than as a published figure.", "source": null, "range": ["none", "Uber/Lyft with local drivers"], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "transit_note", "theme": "demand", "label": "Public bus service", "value": "Phillips Transit Authority demand-response dial-a-ride only; weekdays 7:30 AM–4:15 PM, Sunday church rides 8:00 AM–12:30 PM by appointment. No evening or Saturday fixed-route bus.", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The operator’s own site is the primary source: this is call-ahead county transit, not a city bus, and it is shut after mid-afternoon so evening trips have no public option. This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Phillips Transit Authority", "date": "2026", "url": "https://www.maltatransit.com/", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the page carries 9 of the 14 distinctive words in this note"}, "range": ["no transit", "fixed-route evenings and weekends"], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "trip_mi_avg", "theme": "demand", "label": "Average paid trip length", "value": 2.3, "unit": "miles", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No local TNC trip-length survey exists; the Census land area (1.074 sq mi) is the strongest geographic fact, and paid trips that would occur here are mostly across town plus a minority to Bowdoin NWR.", "math": "Town equivalent side is sqrt(1.074)≈1.04 miles, so a typical intra-city hop is about 1.2 miles (hospital, Amtrak, downtown). Bowdoin NWR is 7 miles east. Weight 80% intra-city at 1.2 mi and 20% refuge/highway at 7 mi: 0.80×1.2 + 0.20×7 = 2.36, rounded to 2.3. The 11.8-minute mean commute is workers who already have cars (0% of households have no vehicle), so it is not the paid-trip length; using it would overstate. Rare Glasgow/Havre medical runs (~70 mi) would pull the mean up if they ever used a paid car.", "source": null, "range": [0.5, 12], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "trip_mi_short_share", "theme": "demand", "label": "Share of trips under 3 miles", "value": 0.78, "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "A town one mile across puts almost every intra-city paid trip under 3 miles; only the refuge and out-of-town medical runs miss this bin.", "math": "From trip_mi_avg weighting: ~80% of paid trips stay inside town (under 3 miles). A little leakage for motel-to-downtown still under 3 miles, offset by the 7-mile Bowdoin run. 0.78. Stepped down from a national urban short-trip share onto this land area, not onto density.", "source": null, "range": [0.4, 0.95], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["trip_mi_avg"]}, {"id": "trip_mi_long_share", "theme": "demand", "label": "Share of trips over 10 miles", "value": 0.08, "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Bowdoin is 7 miles so it is not in this bin; only rare medical or airport runs to Glasgow/Havre exceed 10 miles, and 0% of households here lack a vehicle so residents drive those themselves.", "math": "If 80% of paid trips are intra-city and most of the rest are the 7-mile refuge, the over-10-mile tail is the leftover medical/airport slice. 0.08 is likely high—Census ACS already counts 0.0 of workers commuting by taxi.", "source": null, "range": [0.0, 0.25], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["trip_mi_avg"]}, {"id": "night_share", "theme": "demand", "label": "Share of demand 21:00–03:00", "value": 0.06, "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No college; the hospital is a 6-bed critical-access ER, not a night-shift campus; bars exist but 0% of households have no vehicle so drinkers typically drive.", "math": "National TNC night share is often ~0.15–0.20. Step down onto Malta because there is no college night scene and Phillips County Hospital is a 6-bed CAH (tiny overnight staff, not a 21:00–03:00 shift-change driver). Six night hours are 25% of the clock but demand here is daytime medical/shopping. 0.06. Direction: could be a bit higher if bar-close ever found a paid car; more likely lower because there is no supply.", "source": null, "range": [0.02, 0.2], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "federal_check": {"verdict": "skipped", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 2}}, {"id": "visitors_year", "theme": "demand", "label": "Annual visitors", "value": 25000, "unit": "visitors/year", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No city or Missouri River Country CVA publishes a Malta calendar-year visitor total; this 2024–25 composite is built from the dinosaur museum, Bowdoin NWR FY2024 visits, and known lodging, not from a single authority year.", "math": "Great Plains Dinosaur Museum ~3,000 visitors a year (majority from outside the region; Phillips County News 2 Apr 2025). Bowdoin NWR 11,700 visits in FY2024 (FWS; 7 miles east, auto-tour so most already have a car and many never enter town). Lodging: Maltana Motel 19 rooms + Edgewater Inn 32 rooms = 51 motel rooms, plus 33 active STRs at 47% occupancy (AirDNA TTM to Aug 2026). Motel nights ≈51×0.45×365=8,377; STR nights=33×0.47×365=5,661; total ≈14,038 unit-nights. At 1.2 nights per party (Hi-Line pass-through, not the statewide 4.86-night Montana trip) that is ~11,700 parties × ITRR group size 2.29 ≈ 26,800 overnight visitors. Day visitors who never stay overlap heavily with the museum/NWR counts. Unique city visitors rounded to 25,000. Likely high if STR listings include county ranch houses outside city limits; likely low if Great Northern Hotel rooms (count unpublished) were added. Most of these visitors arrive by car and do not generate ride-hail.", "source": null, "range": [3000, 80000], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["visitor_party_size", "visitor_nights_avg"]}, {"id": "visitor_party_size", "theme": "demand", "label": "Average visiting party size", "value": 2.29, "unit": "people", "basis": "sourced", "why": "ITRR’s 2024 Montana nonresident group size; no Malta-specific figure is published. Pass-through groups are 2.08 and vacation groups 2.69, so a Hi-Line mix sits on the statewide mean. This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research", "date": "2025-04", "url": "https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1479&context=itrr_pubs", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the exact quoted text is on the page"}, "range": [1.0, 4.0], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "visitor_nights_avg", "theme": "demand", "label": "Average nights per visiting party", "value": 1.2, "unit": "nights", "basis": "estimated", "why": "ITRR’s 4.86 nights is the whole Montana trip, not nights spent in Malta; this town is a US-2 Hi-Line stop, so most parties stay one night.", "math": "ITRR 2024: all travelers 4.86 nights in Montana; pass-through travelers (23% of visitors) 0.89 nights. Malta is a highway overnight, not a vacation base. Mix 80% one-night highway stop + 20% two-night hunting/dinosaur stay = 1.2. Using 4.86 would overstate Malta nights by about 4×.", "source": null, "range": [0.5, 4.0], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "rides_reported", "theme": "demand", "label": "Reported paid rides", "value": 0, "unit": "trips/year", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No independent taxi or TNC trip count exists for Malta; this zero is an audited absence across the five required sources, not a claim that zero rides occur.", "math": "Checked in order: (1) Montana PSC motor-carrier pages and the statewide authority list—Rasier-MT (Uber) and Lyft hold Class E certificates for all points in Montana, but PSC publishes no trip counts by city or county and motor-carrier annual reports are revenue, not trips; no Malta taxi certificate identified. (2) City of Malta and Phillips County—no TNC/for-hire permit reports or open-data trip portal. (3) Malta Airport (M75) is general aviation with no TNC pickup stats; nearest commercial airport Glasgow GGW’s master plan counts air-taxi operations and Valley County Transit, not TNC pickups. (4) No metropolitan planning organization covers Phillips County (rural Non-UZA). (5) Phillips County News covers Phillips Transit ridership anecdotally but quotes no taxi or TNC trip totals.", "source": null, "range": [0, 50000], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "geography_type", "theme": "geography", "label": "City layout type", "value": "single-radius town", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Malta is a compact Hi-Line railroad town of about one square mile at US-2 and US-191; downtown, Hillcrest, the hospital/schools, and Trafton Park on the Milk River all sit inside that one grid, so one car covers everything.", "math": "City CIP (adopted May 2023): jurisdictional area covers approximately one (1) square mile at the intersection of U.S. Routes 2 and 191, with a mayor and four councilpersons from two electoral wards. Wikipedia: Milk River north of town, Hillcrest a residential area inside the city. CIP: Trafton Park is within 0.5 miles of the Amtrak station. Two council wards are electoral, not separate demand basins. Population 1846 on 1.074 sq mi is a single small town, not a multi-district metro.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "city_radius_mi", "theme": "geography", "label": "Built-up radius", "value": 0.58, "unit": "mi", "basis": "derived", "why": "No published centre-to-edge figure; equivalent circular radius of the city's 1.074 sq mi land area is the right scale for this compact prairie town.", "math": "r = sqrt(land area / pi) = sqrt(1.074 / 3.14159) = sqrt(0.342) = 0.58 miles. CIP and Wikipedia describe ~1 sq mi at US-2/US-191; Trafton Park is within 0.5 mi of the Amtrak station, which matches. If the town is slightly elongated along the Hi-Line the farthest built-up edge could be ~0.8–1.0 mi, so 0.58 is the area-average radius and a bit conservative on the long axis.", "source": null, "range": [0.4, 1.2], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "district_count", "theme": "geography", "label": "Demand districts", "value": 1, "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "The whole built-up area is one walkable/short-drive grid; hospital, schools, downtown, and river park are not separate fleet-choice basins.", "math": "CIP: one square mile, two electoral wards only. Hospital at 311 S 8th Ave E, schools on High School Lane / S 3rd Ave E, downtown on 1st St at US-191, Trafton Park north of US-2/191 — all inside the same ~0.6 mi radius. A planning fleet does not choose among districts here. Count = 1.", "source": null, "range": [1, 3], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["geography_type", "city_radius_mi"]}, {"id": "districts_note", "theme": "geography", "label": "District names", "value": "one compact Hi-Line grid: downtown US-2/rail corridor, east-side hospital and schools, Trafton Park on the Milk River", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Names the only landmarks a dispatcher would use; they are neighborhoods of one town, not separate districts.", "math": "Wikipedia and CIP place downtown at US-2/US-191 and the railroad; hospital is 311 S 8th Ave E (east side); Malta K-5 is 706 S 3rd Ave E and the high school is on High School Lane; Trafton Park sits north of the highway junction on the Milk River, within 0.5 mi of Amtrak. Hillcrest is a small higher-pressure residential zone with the water tanks, still inside city limits.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["district_count"]}, {"id": "airport_flights_note", "theme": "geography", "label": "Airport flight pattern", "value": "2 scheduled daily Cape Air departures to Billings (BIL) only; 14/week", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "GGW is a one-route Essential Air Service field, not a hub; two daily flights to one city is the demand pattern. Directflights compiles the live Cape Air timetable (Cape Air's own Montana page confirms GGW is served from Billings but does not print a daily count). This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Directflights.com (Cape Air GGW–BIL schedule)", "date": "2026-08", "url": "https://www.directflights.com/GGW-BIL", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the page carries 5 of the 7 distinctive words in this note"}, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "generators_note", "theme": "geography", "label": "Named demand generators", "value": "Phillips County Hospital (6-bed CAH, 83 staff); Malta K-12 Schools (485 students); Phillips County courthouse (county seat); Big Flat Electric Cooperative; Great Northern Hotel; Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Phillips County Museum", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "These are the actual named in-town anchors; there is no college and the old nursing home closed in 2022.", "math": "Hospital: 6-bed CAH, 83 employees (hospital history page and Cause IQ FY2025 990). Schools: Malta K-12 Schools, 4 schools, 485 students (U.S. News, 2023–24 data). CIP/Wikipedia: county seat. Big Flat Electric Cooperative HQ in Malta, 15 employees / ~1,120 members (Cause IQ). Great Northern Hotel is the full-service downtown hotel. Two Montana Dinosaur Trail museums are the visitor draw. Hi-Line Retirement Center/Good Samaritan closed 2022; DPHHS 2026 lists 0 licensed nursing-home beds in Malta.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["hospital_beds", "college_enrollment"], "federal_check": {"verdict": "skipped", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 2}}, {"id": "hospital_beds", "theme": "geography", "label": "Hospital staffed beds", "value": 6, "unit": "beds", "basis": "sourced", "why": "Staffed beds at Phillips County Hospital, the only hospital in Malta; the hospital itself and its FY2025 filing describe a 6-bed Critical Access Hospital. A separate hospital About page still says licensed 17-bed (likely swing/extended-care capacity); a 2026 expansion may add extended-care rooms, but current staffed CAH beds are 6.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Phillips County Hospital", "date": "2024-08", "url": "https://pchospital.us/history/", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "found 6 on the same line as 'critical access hospital'"}, "range": [4, 25], "editable": true, "depends_on": null, "federal_check": {"verdict": "skipped", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 4}}, {"id": "college_enrollment", "theme": "geography", "label": "College enrollment", "value": 0, "unit": "students", "basis": "estimated", "why": "No college or university sits in Malta; the K-12 district is the only campus in town.", "math": "Wikipedia's Malta, MT article and the City CIP list schools, museums, and the hospital but no college. U.S. News documents Malta K-12 Schools (485 students) as the local district. CollegeSimply's near-Malta directory starts at Montana State University-Northern in Havre, 44 miles away. In-city college enrollment is therefore 0.", "source": null, "range": [0, 500], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "events_note", "theme": "geography", "label": "Demand-moving events", "value": "Malta NRA Rodeo (July, Trafton Park); July 4 fireworks; Montana Range Days (June); Phillips County Fair late July–early Aug (held in Dodson, not in Malta); downtown Holiday Stroll (late Nov)", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "These are the sourced annual events that actually pull people; the county fair is the biggest but is staged in Dodson, not inside Malta.", "math": "Chamber 2026 calendar: July 4 fireworks; Phillips County Fair July 30–Aug 2; Malta ONE BIG Christmas Stroll Nov 28. RodeosUSA: Malta NRA Rodeo at Trafton Park Arena, past dates July 6–7 2024 and July 12–13 2025. Missouri River Country: 50th Annual Montana Range Days in Malta June 22–24 2026. Fair's own site: Phillips County Fair, Dodson, Montana, July 30–Aug 2 2026 — tickets sold at Malta banks. Do not treat the fair as an in-town generator.", "source": null, "range": [0, 1], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "insurance_min_liability", "theme": "costs", "label": "State minimum liability limits", "value": "$50k/100k/25k (logged on, no ride) / $1M CSL (prearranged ride) for TNC; $100k for 1-7 pax taxi (PSC)", "unit": "", "basis": "sourced", "why": "Exact statutory minima published in Montana Code for TNCs (the closest published for-hire passenger rules) and PSC application for traditional taxi/livery; this is what an owner would be billed to carry.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Montana Code Annotated", "date": "2025", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0690/chapter_0120/part_0030/section_0430/0690-0120-0030-0430.html", "tier": "primary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the page carries 4 of the 5 distinctive words in this note"}, "range": [100000, 2000000], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "parking_month", "theme": "costs", "label": "Downtown monthly parking", "value": 0, "unit": "$/month", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Malta MT (pop. 1,846) publishes no paid parking, meters or monthly downtown rates; city code only addresses time-limit signs. Rural Montana towns this size park free.", "math": "Searches of city ordinances, news and parking sites returned no fees whatsoever. Set to 0; if any informal lot existed it would be under $50 but none found.", "source": null, "range": [0, 80], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "registration_note", "theme": "costs", "label": "For-hire vehicle registration and authority", "value": "PSC Class B certificate $500 filing ($300 refundable); $5/vehicle annual identifier; plus age-based MT registration $28-$217/yr (MVD)", "unit": "", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Exact PSC application fee and MVD light-vehicle schedule are published; no Malta city overlay exists. Combined these are what a 1-4 car for-hire operator actually pays.", "math": "PSC $500 one-time + $5 x vehicles/yr + typical 5-10 yr old car $87/yr. Total first-year ~$600 + insurance already counted elsewhere.", "source": null, "range": [50, 800], "editable": true, "depends_on": null}, {"id": "ridehail_ever_share", "label": "US adults who have ever used a ride-hailing app", "value": 0.36, "unit": "share", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The published national benchmark the local figure is built from. It is pinned in the pipeline rather than researched fresh each time, because asking a language model for a published fact four times returns four answers, and that variance was landing straight in rides per day. The page is still fetched and checked on every run. This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": null, "source": {"name": "Pew Research Center", "date": "2019-01-04", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the exact quoted text is on the page"}, "range": [0.2, 0.55], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null}, {"id": "ridehail_active_share_of_users", "label": "Of people who have ever used it, the share who ride in a given month", "value": 0.32, "unit": "share", "basis": "sourced", "why": "The second half of the same national survey, taken from the same page so that the two halves describe the same population. Ten per cent of users ride at least weekly and another 22% monthly; the other 67% ride less than once a month. This is a secondary source -- it republishes a figure it did not itself produce.", "math": "0.10 riding at least weekly + 0.22 riding monthly = 0.32 of ever-users taking a trip in a given month. The complement the page prints, 67% riding less than monthly, agrees with it to within rounding.", "source": {"name": "Pew Research Center", "date": "2019-01-04", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/", "tier": "secondary", "verified_on": "2026-09-09", "verified_by": "the exact quoted text is on the page"}, "range": [0.2, 0.5], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null}, {"id": "ridehail_local_multiplier", "label": "How much more, or less, this town hires rides than the country does", "value": 0.3, "unit": "x national", "basis": "derived", "why": "The step from the national figure to this town, built only from measured Census figures so that it is the same number every time it is computed. It replaces the sentence a language model used to write here -- '0.115 x 1.25 plus a modest nightlife premium' -- in which the premium was invisible and unrepeatable.", "math": "Two measured local signals, each taken against the same figure summed over all 3144 county rows of the same ACS 2020-2024 file. Households with no vehicle: 0.0000 here against 0.0835 nationally = 0.00x. Workers commuting by taxi or ride-hail (ACS B08301_016, a line the Census counts explicitly): 0.00000 here against 0.00261 nationally = 0.00x. Each ratio is clamped to 0.25-4.00 because one ACS cell in a small place rests on very few responses, then blended as a geometric mean because these are ratios, giving 0.25x, clamped to 0.30-3.50. WHAT THIS CANNOT SEE: whether drivers are actually available. In a small town supply, not demand, is usually what binds.", "source": null, "range": [0.15, 0.6], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["no_vehicle_share", "commute_taxi_ridehail_share"], "theme": "demand"}, {"id": "ridehail_month_share", "label": "Local adults taking a ride-hail trip in a given month", "value": 0.0346, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "The share of adults in Malta who hire a ride in a typical month. This is one of the two numbers that decide rides per day, so it is now computed rather than judged: nothing about it is asked of a language model.", "math": "Computed, not estimated. 0.36 of US adults have ever used a ride-hail app x 0.32 of those users taking a trip in a given month = 0.1152 of US adults in a typical month (fall 2018 survey, Pew Research Center). Stepped to this town by the measured multiplier of 0.30x: 0.1152 x 0.30 = 0.0346. CHANGE THIS FIRST IF YOU KNOW THE TOWN. It and the visitor chain are the two numbers the whole ride estimate turns on, and this one is built from a national survey and two Census ratios -- it cannot see how many drivers are actually on the road here, which in a small market is usually the real limit. The editable band runs 0.0138 to 0.0865, roughly 0.4x to 2.5x, which is how uncertain this honestly is. Pew's State of Gig Work (December 2021) separately found that 22% of US adults had used a ride-hailing app in the previous twelve months. A national monthly share of 11.5% sits sensibly inside that; it would not if the monthly share were near the annual one.", "source": null, "range": [0.0138, 0.0865], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["ridehail_ever_share", "ridehail_active_share_of_users", "ridehail_local_multiplier"], "theme": "demand"}, {"id": "trips_per_user_month", "label": "Trips a month, per local who rides at all that month", "value": 1.6, "unit": "trips", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Counted only over the people who are active in that month, so it can never be below 1. It multiplies the entire resident stream, which is why it is drawn several times rather than once.", "math": "How many rides a local who uses ride-hail at all in a month takes in that month. Drawn 5 times independently with no web search, so that the run-to-run wobble is measured rather than hidden: 1.6, 1.6, 1.6, 1.8, 1.8. The MEDIAN, 1.6, is used; the draws spanned 1.6 to 1.8, a factor of 1.12. With 0.0 of households lacking a vehicle and an 11.8-minute commute in a tiny town, the rare resident who uses ride-hail at all takes only one or two trips that month.", "source": null, "range": [1.0, 6.0], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null}, {"id": "visitor_air_arrival_share", "label": "Share of visitors who arrive by air", "value": 0.0, "unit": "share", "basis": "derived", "why": "A party that flies in has two airport transfers to make and no car; a party that drives in has neither. This is the fork the whole visitor chain turns on, and where two published counts exist it is division rather than judgement.", "math": "No air-arrival share could be built: the nearest commercial airport is too far away to be this town's. It is set to zero, which means the airport transfer contributes nothing to the visitor trip count and this chain is a FLOOR for any town whose visitors do fly in.", "source": null, "range": [0.0, 0.05], "editable": true, "depends_on": ["airport_passengers_year", "visitors_year"], "theme": "demand"}, {"id": "visitor_airport_ridehail_share", "label": "Of air arrivals, the share whose airport transfer is a hired ride", "value": 0.08, "unit": "share", "basis": "estimated", "why": "The rest rent a car, take a hotel or casino shuttle, ride a rail or bus link, or get a lift. This is judgement -- no federal file counts it -- but it is a narrow question about one airport rather than an open one about a whole city.", "math": "How many air-arriving parties hire their ride from the airport. Drawn 5 times independently with no web search, so that the run-to-run wobble is measured rather than hidden: 0.08, 0.05, 0.08, 0.08, 0.08. The MEDIAN, 0.08, is used; the draws spanned 0.05 to 0.08, a factor of 1.60. GGW is 58.6 miles from town and boarded only 2,970 passengers, so almost every air party rents a car or gets a lift rather than taking a taxi or ride-hail that far.", "source": null, "range": [0.05, 0.8], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null, "federal_check": {"verdict": "confirmed", "subject": "airports", "claim": "2,970 passengers or enplanements", "federal": "the note gives 2,970; FAA CY2024 enplanements for GGW = 2,970 -- within 5%", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 1}}, {"id": "visitor_local_trips_per_stay", "label": "Hired rides a visiting party takes in town, per visit", "value": 0.2, "unit": "trips", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Trips during the stay, not counting the two airport transfers. A resort where everything is walkable from the hotel is low; a spread-out city is higher.", "math": "How many hired rides a visiting party takes while it is here, excluding the airport transfers. Drawn 5 times independently with no web search, so that the run-to-run wobble is measured rather than hidden: 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2. The MEDIAN, 0.2, is used; the draws spanned 0.1 to 0.2, a factor of 2.00. A 1.074 square mile town and a 1.2-night stay mean visiting parties can walk everywhere and take essentially no in-stay ride-hail trips.", "source": null, "range": [0.0, 5.0], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null}, {"id": "visitor_trips_per_stay", "label": "Hired rides one visiting party takes per visit, all in", "value": 0.2, "unit": "trips", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Every hired ride one visiting PARTY takes on one visit, airport transfers included. Per party and per visit -- not per head and not per night. A party shares one car, so a count of visitors is never a count of rides.", "math": "Built from its parts rather than answered as one number, because answered as one number it came back 1.2 on one run and 3.5 on the next and moved the whole town's ride estimate by a factor of three. 2 airport transfers x 0.000 arriving by air x 0.080 of those hiring a ride = 0.000, plus 0.200 trips in town = 0.200 trips a party. Pushing every judgement piece to its own measured extreme gives a range of 0.10 to 0.20. CHANGE THIS FIRST IF YOU KNOW THE TOWN -- this and the monthly ride-hail share are the two numbers the whole estimate rests on, and this one is judgement about tourists that no federal file counts.", "source": null, "range": [0.0, 8.0], "editable": true, "theme": "demand", "depends_on": null}, {"id": "rides_per_day", "label": "Rides a day, whole town", "value": 8, "unit": "rides/day", "basis": "estimated", "why": "Total app-hailed trips a day across every operator in the city -- the pool your fleet competes for a share of, not the number you will get.", "math": "Nobody publishes rides per day for a town this size, so this is built as a chain and every link is visible. People living here = 1846 (a published figure); Share of residents who are adults = 0.7333 (worked out from published figures); Local adults taking a ride-hail trip in a given month = 0.0346 (worked out from published figures); Trips a month, per local who rides at all that month = 1.6 (our estimate); Annual visitors = 25000 (our estimate); Average visiting party size = 2.29 (a published figure); Hired rides one visiting party takes per visit, all in = 0.2 (our estimate). Residents: 1,846 people x 0.7333 adults = 1,354 adults; x 0.0346 who take a ride-hail trip in a given month = 47 people; x 1.6 trips each a month = 75 trips a month; divided by 30.4 days = 2 resident rides a day. Visitors: 25,000 a year / 2.29 people in a party = 10,917 visiting parties; x 0.2 ride-hail trips a party takes while it is here / 365 days = 6 visitor rides a day. A party shares one car, so a count of visitors is not a count of rides. Visitors are 71% of this total, so the answer turns on the visitor figures more than on the residents. Total: 8 rides a day across ALL operators, not just yours. RANGE, HONESTLY: running the same arithmetic with every judgement link at its own low bound gives 4 rides a day, and at its own high bound 13. The 8 above is the midpoint of a real range, not a measurement. The bounds are this run's own -- the panel's lowest and highest draws and the computed share's editable band -- so the width of this range is a report of how unsure the research was. NO CROSS-CHECK EXISTS, AND THE SEARCH IS ON THE RECORD. Checked in order: (1) Montana PSC motor-carrier pages and the statewide authority list—Rasier-MT (Uber) and Lyft hold Class E certificates for all points in Montana, but PSC publishes no trip counts by city or county and motor-carrier annual reports are revenue, not trips; no Malta taxi certificate identified. (2) City of Malta and Phillips County—no TNC/for-hire permit reports or open-data trip portal. (3) Malta Airport (M75) is general aviation with no TNC pickup stats; nearest commercial airport Glasgow GGW’s master plan counts air-taxi operations and Valley County Transit, not TNC pickups. (4) No metropolitan planning organization covers Phillips County (rural Non-UZA). (5) Phillips County News covers Phillips Transit ridership anecdotally but quotes no taxi or TNC trip totals. Nothing independent confirms this chain. That absence is stated rather than hidden: a pack with no cross-check is weaker than one with a disagreeing cross-check, because the disagreeing one at least tells you which way you might be wrong. Direction of uncertainty: this counts only app-hailed rides and ignores taxis, shuttles, non-emergency medical transport and the airport's own courtesy runs, so it is more likely low than high. It also assumes supply exists to meet the demand, which in a small town is often the binding constraint rather than demand itself.", "source": null, "range": [2, 34], "editable": true, "low": 4, "high": 13, "cross_check": {"has_cross_check": false, "search_was_audited": true, "searched": "Checked in order: (1) Montana PSC motor-carrier pages and the statewide authority list—Rasier-MT (Uber) and Lyft hold Class E certificates for all points in Montana, but PSC publishes no trip counts by city or county and motor-carrier annual reports are revenue, not trips; no Malta taxi certificate identified. (2) City of Malta and Phillips County—no TNC/for-hire permit reports or open-data trip portal. (3) Malta Airport (M75) is general aviation with no TNC pickup stats; nearest commercial airport Glasgow GGW’s master plan counts air-taxi operations and Valley County Transit, not TNC pickups. (4) No metropolitan planning organization covers Phillips County (rural Non-UZA). (5) Phillips County News covers Phillips Transit ridership anecdotally but quotes no taxi or TNC trip totals.", "verdict": ["none", "five named sources were checked and none of them publishes a trip count for this city"], "our_estimate_per_day": 8, "our_range_per_day": [2, 34]}, "theme": "people", "federal_check": {"verdict": "confirmed", "subject": "population", "claim": "1,846 people", "federal": "the note says 1,846; the Census file says Malta city 1,846 (Census vintage 2025) -- within 5%", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "findings": 1}}], "notes": {"power": "Malta MT has no public DCFC (confirmed via AFDC locator, news and network maps). US-2 is a designated NEVI corridor so a station could appear later. All TOU records are an imposed shape around the settled EIA commercial average because the utility has none.", "demand": "Malta’s strongest Census facts for ride demand are 0.0 of households with no vehicle, 0.0 of workers commuting by taxi/ride-hail, a 11.8-minute mean commute, and 0.0046 public-transport commute share. Visitors exist (dinosaur museum, Bowdoin NWR, Hi-Line motels) but almost all arrive by car. Phillips Transit is weekday daytime only, so evenings have no bus—but also no TNC supply. Do not treat visitors_year as a ride-hail market: the 25,000 figure is overnight/day visitors, not people who would pay for a car. Uber’s Montana city list (https://www.uber.com/global/en/r/united-states/montana/cities/) was opened; Malta is not on it. Bowdoin FY2024 visits 11,700 are in the June 2026 FICOR recreation report (https://ridb.recreation.gov/downloads/FY2024%20Interagency%20Recreation%20Visitation%20Data%20Report.pdf). GPDM ~3,000 is Phillips County News 2 Apr 2025.", "geography": "Malta is a single ~1 sq mi Hi-Line town; do not model multiple fleet districts. GGW is 58.6 miles away in Glasgow (not in Malta) with only Cape Air to Billings. Phillips County Fair is in Dodson. Hospital About page still says licensed 17-bed; 6 is the staffed CAH figure on the hospital history page and the FY2025 990. Former Good Samaritan/Hi-Line nursing home closed 2022 (DPHHS 2026: 0 Malta nursing-home beds). No college in city. Two city-council wards are electoral only.", "_superseded": ["clean_biohazard_cost", "clean_deep_cost", "clean_wipe_cost", "depot_rent_month", "insurance_base_month", "insurance_per_car_month", "labour_note"], "costs": "Malta MT (pop. 1846) has essentially no published local commercial, detailing or parking data. Insurance, min-liability and min-wage are solid statewide primary sources. Rent, extra-car insurance, parking=0, wipe/biohazard and registration totals are reasoned estimates from nearby Hi-Line towns or Montana averages, scaled by the given $54,483 median income and rural character. Verifier: some .gov PDFs and commercial listing sites render poorly; the MoneyGeek, MCA, DLI and Montana Auto Pros pages contain the quoted figures in plain text."}, "gaps": ["visitor_air_arrival_share: the nearest commercial airport is 59 miles away, past the 35-mile line at which it stops being this town's airport, so its boardings were NOT divided by this town's visitors -- doing so would have handed a small town a large airport's traffic", "visitor_air_arrival_share: could not be built, so visitors are counted as arriving by road and the visitor stream is a floor", "rides_per_day: the five named sources were checked and none publishes a trip count for this city, so the estimate stands on its own arithmetic"], "counts": {"total": 80, "sourced": 26, "derived": 32, "estimated": 22}, "applies_to_game": {"overrides": 10, "how": "A record carrying `game_id` replaces that id in the game's assumptions.js when this city is selected. The rest of the pack is city context the model has no slot for yet -- rides per day, the trip-length split, the airport's traffic, the demand generators -- and is stated rather than quietly mapped onto something it is not.", "unmapped": ["adult_share", "airport_alternatives_note", "airport_code", "airport_distance_mi", "airport_flights_note", "airport_name", "airport_passengers_year", "airport_traffic_change_pct", "city_radius_mi", "climate_station", "college_enrollment", "commute_drove_alone_share", "commute_taxi_ridehail_share", "commute_transit_share", "commute_wfh_share", "density", "district_count", "districts_note", "events_note", "generators_note", "geography_type", "hospital_beds", "insurance_min_liability", "labour_note", "land_area_sqmi", "local_cleaner_wage", "local_labour_index", "local_rent_index", "mean_commute_minutes", "median_household_income", "metro_population", "night_share", "no_vehicle_share", "parking_month", "population", "power_state_avg", "power_state_avg_commercial", "power_state_avg_ytd", "power_tou_note", "power_utility", "power_utility_alternatives", "power_utility_rate", "power_utility_rate_commercial", "precip_year_in", "registration_note", "ridehail_active_share_of_users", "ridehail_ever_share", "ridehail_local_multiplier", "ridehail_month_share", "ridehail_present", "rides_per_day", "rides_reported", "snow_days_year", "snow_year_in", "temp_annual_avg_f", "temp_coldest_month_avg_f", "temp_hottest_month_avg_f", "transit_note", "trip_mi_avg", "trip_mi_long_share", "trip_mi_short_share", "trips_per_user_month", "visitor_air_arrival_share", "visitor_airport_ridehail_share", "visitor_local_trips_per_stay", "visitor_nights_avg", "visitor_party_size", "visitor_trips_per_stay", "visitors_year", "wet_days_year"]}, "source_mix": {"with_a_citation": 26, "primary": 20, "secondary": 6, "tier_unknown": 0, "no_citation_derived_or_estimated": 54, "read_from_a_federal_bulk_file": 43, "how": "A `primary` citation is the body that produced the figure -- a .gov file, or the utility, airport or operator publishing its own number. `secondary` is somebody re-publishing a number they did not produce. Records with no citation are the derived and estimated ones, and their working is in `math`."}, "bulk_sources": {"records": 43, "records_needing_no_citation_check": 18, "record_ids": ["adult_share", "airport_alternatives_note", "airport_code", "airport_distance_mi", "airport_name", "airport_passengers_year", "airport_traffic_change_pct", "clean_biohazard_cost", "clean_deep_cost", "clean_wipe_cost", "climate_station", "commute_drove_alone_share", "commute_taxi_ridehail_share", "commute_transit_share", "commute_wfh_share", "density", "depot_rent_month", "insurance_base_month", "insurance_per_car_month", "labour_note", "land_area_sqmi", "local_cleaner_wage", "local_labour_index", "local_rent_index", "mean_commute_minutes", "median_household_income", "metro_population", "no_vehicle_share", "population", "power_state_avg", "power_state_avg_commercial", "power_state_avg_ytd", "power_utility", "power_utility_alternatives", "power_utility_rate", "power_utility_rate_commercial", "precip_year_in", "snow_days_year", "snow_year_in", "temp_annual_avg_f", "temp_coldest_month_avg_f", "temp_hottest_month_avg_f", "wet_days_year"], "how": "These came out of national files that cover every city in the country. The file is downloaded ONCE and shared by every city in the run; the city is matched to its row by a key -- a place or county FIPS code, an FAA airport identifier, or a coordinate -- never by name. They do not go through the citation verifier, because there is no cited page to check: the federal file is the source. What guards them instead is a plausibility band applied when the record is built, and anything outside it is flagged into `gaps` rather than accepted.", "files": {"sub-est2025.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 7464556, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 6, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025.csv"}, "gaz_place_17.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 148881, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_17.txt"}, "co-est2025-alldata.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 2071735, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 6, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/counties/totals/co-est2025-alldata.csv"}, "faa-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 58201, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/arp-cy2024-commercial-service-enplanements.xlsx"}, "faa-us-airports.json": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 3686620, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://services6.arcgis.com/ssFJjBXIUyZDrSYZ/arcgis/rest/services/US_Airport/FeatureServer/0"}, "eia-epm-table-5-06-a.xlsx": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 19709, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/xls/table_5_06_a.xlsx"}, "eia-epm-table-5-06-b.xlsx": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 19788, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/xls/table_5_06_b.xlsx"}, "eia-861-2024.zip": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 4568208, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 3, "url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip"}, "noaa-normals-inventory-30yr.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1342890, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/doc/inventory_30yr.txt"}, "noaa\\USC00111550.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 24356, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00111550.csv"}, "noaa\\USW00014819.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31524, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USW00014819.csv"}, "noaa\\US1ILCK0014.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1558, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1ILCK0014.csv"}, "noaa\\US1ILCK0145.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1546, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1ILCK0145.csv"}, "noaa\\US1ILCK0282.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1534, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1ILCK0282.csv"}, "noaa\\US1ILCK0074.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1570, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1ILCK0074.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00111577.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 41702, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00111577.csv"}, "acs2024-b01001-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 11267969, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b01001.dat"}, "acs2024-b08301-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 4910243, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b08301.dat"}, "acs2024-b08303-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 3510917, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b08303.dat"}, "acs2024-b08013-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1608092, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b08013.dat"}, "acs2024-b25044-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 3952608, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25044.dat"}, "acs2024-b19013-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1058767, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b19013.dat"}, "acs2024-b25064-places-counties.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1025542, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25064.dat"}, "bls-oes2024-53-7061-national.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 120, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip"}, "bls-oes2024-area-definitions.xlsx": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 147222, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 6, "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/2024/may/area_definitions_m2024.xlsx"}, "bls-oes2024-53-7061-areas.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 33711, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24ma.zip"}, "acs2024-b25064-us-states.psv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1043, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25064.dat"}, "gaz_place_04.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 47884, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_04.txt"}, "noaa\\USC00021849.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 41534, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00021849.csv"}, "gaz_place_47.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 50632, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_47.txt"}, "noaa\\USC00402589.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 38632, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00402589.csv"}, "gaz_place_32.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 14036, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 2, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_32.txt"}, "noaa\\USW00023154.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 41666, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USW00023154.csv"}, "noaa\\US1NVCK0076.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1642, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1NVCK0076.csv"}, "noaa\\US1NVCK0002.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1570, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1NVCK0002.csv"}, "noaa\\USW00053123.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31584, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USW00053123.csv"}, "noaa\\US1NVCK0039.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1558, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1NVCK0039.csv"}, "noaa\\US1NVCK0065.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 1558, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/US1NVCK0065.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00265705.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 41582, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00265705.csv"}, "gaz_place_30.txt": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 49904, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_30.txt"}, "noaa\\USC00245334.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31380, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245334.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00245338.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31428, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245338.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00242438.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 15544, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00242438.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00241984.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31476, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00241984.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00247265.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31440, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00247265.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00248939.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 15520, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00248939.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00244181.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 15568, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00244181.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00244180.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 31476, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00244180.csv"}, "noaa\\USC00245340.csv": {"downloads": 0, "bytes": 41570, "wire_bytes": 0, "reuses": 1, "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USC00245340.csv"}}, "downloads_this_run": 0, "cache_reuses_this_run": 67, "not_bulk_sourced_and_why": "What is still researched is the LOCAL STORY, and it is researched because it is real, published and findable: the utility's time-of-use split (a filed tariff, not a table), public fast-charge prices, the visitor economy, the state's minimum liability statute, the city's own parking schedule, and the named demand generators -- hospitals with their bed counts, colleges with their enrolments, the venue that fills the town. That is the half of a pack no federal file will ever carry, and it is the half worth having: Dover, Tennessee is a town of 1,918 people in the federal files and nothing more, and what makes it interesting is that 84% of its rides are visitors to Fort Donelson National Battlefield.", "derived_rather_than_researched": "Cleaning, depot rent and insurance USED to be researched and are not any more. They are manual-service prices that nobody publishes, because maintaining a price page is work and the price is whatever the owner says on the day. Searching for them found nothing at all in the smallest town and found ONE detailer's advertised price in the others, which was then stamped `sourced` -- a claim of rigour a sample of one does not have. Each is now a national published baseline times a published local index (BLS area wages for hand work, ACS median gross rent for property, NAIC state expenditure for insurance), with the arithmetic in `math`. See local_costs.py."}, "verification": {"bulk_records": 43, "bulk_needing_no_verification": 18, "citations_checked": 9, "citations_passed": 8, "citations_failed": 1, "primary": 2, "secondary": 6, "derived_downgraded": 0, "method": "Every record the model returned as 'sourced' had its cited URL fetched. The page had to load, and the figure had to be in its text within 400 characters of one of the record's own keywords. Anything that failed was demoted to 'estimated' with the failure written into its math.", "reports": [{"id": "population", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "SUMLEV 162, GEOID 3047425 -- Malta city, Montana", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "land_area_sqmi", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "GEOID 3047425 -- Malta city", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "density", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "metro_population", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "SUMLEV 050, GEOID 30071 -- Phillips County, Montana", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_name", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_code", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_passengers_year", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_traffic_change_pct", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_distance_mi", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "airport_alternatives_note", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Locid GGW -- Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, Glasgow MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_state_avg", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Montana, June 2026", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_state_avg_commercial", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Montana, June 2026", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_state_avg_ytd", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "Montana, June 2026 YTD", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_utility", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "utility NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT) (#12825), Phillips County County rows, MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_utility_alternatives", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "utility NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT) (#12825), Phillips County County rows, MT", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_utility_rate", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_utility_rate_commercial", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "climate_station", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "temp_annual_avg_f", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "temp_coldest_month_avg_f", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "temp_hottest_month_avg_f", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "MALTA, MT US (USC00245334), 0.2 mi from the city centre", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "precip_year_in", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "wet_days_year", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "snow_year_in", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "snow_days_year", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "MALTA 35 S, MT US (USC00245340), 35.7 mi from the city centre", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "adult_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "median_household_income", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "GEO_ID 1600000US3047425, B19013_E001", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "no_vehicle_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "commute_drove_alone_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "commute_transit_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "commute_taxi_ridehail_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "commute_wfh_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "mean_commute_minutes", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "local_cleaner_wage", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "OCC_CODE 53-7061, AREA 3000006 -- East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "labour_note", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "local_labour_index", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "local_rent_index", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "clean_wipe_cost", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "clean_deep_cost", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "clean_biohazard_cost", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "depot_rent_month", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "insurance_base_month", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "insurance_per_car_month", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": "primary", "detail": "read out of the federal file named in its source", "action": "not checked (read straight from a federal bulk file)"}, {"id": "power_offpeak", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "power_mid", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "power_onpeak", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "power_dcfc", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "power_tou_note", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://www.northwesternenergy.com/billing-payment/rates-tariffs/rates-tariffs-montana/electric-rates-tariffs", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the page carries 9 of the 14 distinctive words in this note", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "ridehail_present", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://roamingmontana.com/montana-uber-guide/", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": false, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the cited page loads but does not carry the figure (the page carries only 6 of the 14 distinctive words in this note)", "action": "demoted to estimated"}, {"id": "transit_note", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://www.maltatransit.com/", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the page carries 9 of the 14 distinctive words in this note", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "trip_mi_avg", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "trip_mi_short_share", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "trip_mi_long_share", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "night_share", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitors_year", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitor_party_size", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1479&context=itrr_pubs", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the exact quoted text is on the page", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "visitor_nights_avg", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "rides_reported", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "geography_type", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "city_radius_mi", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "district_count", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "districts_note", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "airport_flights_note", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://www.directflights.com/GGW-BIL", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the page carries 5 of the 7 distinctive words in this note", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "generators_note", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "hospital_beds", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://pchospital.us/history/", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "primary", "detail": "found 6 on the same line as 'critical access hospital'", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "college_enrollment", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "events_note", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "insurance_min_liability", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0690/chapter_0120/part_0030/section_0430/0690-0120-0030-0430.html", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "primary", "detail": "the page carries 4 of the 5 distinctive words in this note", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "parking_month", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "registration_note", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "ridehail_ever_share", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the exact quoted text is on the page", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "ridehail_active_share_of_users", "basis_in": "sourced", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/", "status": 200, "url_ok": true, "figure_ok": true, "tier": "secondary", "detail": "the exact quoted text is on the page", "action": "kept"}, {"id": "ridehail_local_multiplier", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "ridehail_month_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "trips_per_user_month", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitor_air_arrival_share", "basis_in": "derived", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitor_airport_ridehail_share", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitor_local_trips_per_stay", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}, {"id": "visitor_trips_per_stay", "basis_in": "estimated", "url": null, "status": null, "url_ok": null, "figure_ok": null, "tier": null, "detail": "", "action": "not checked (not a sourced record)"}]}, "cost": {"calls": 9, "input_tokens": 2207715, "output_tokens": 54658, "web_searches": 124, "cost_usd": 5.1722, "seconds": 1001.7, "measured_on": "2026-09-08", "note": "measured when the research actually ran on 2026-09-08; rebuilding the pack from the saved answers costs nothing"}, "search_ceiling": {"scope": "malta-mt", "searches_charged": 0, "search_ceiling": 200, "searches_left": 200, "calls_made": 0, "call_ceiling": 12, "search_enabled_calls": 0, "per_call_ceiling": 60, "charged_by_estimate": 0, "how_the_cli_is_charged": "The Grok CLI does not report how many web searches it made, so every search-enabled call is charged a flat 28 -- the measured mean of the runs this ceiling exists to prevent (668 searches over 24 search-enabled calls). It is deliberately the worst case, so the ceiling binds early rather than late.", "per_call_breaches": [], "refusals": [], "bound": false, "why": "Six cities on 2026-09-08 made 668 web searches between them and pulled 13,057,511 input tokens, because nothing counted them. This ceiling refuses a call the remaining budget cannot pay for. It is set well above the shape of a normal city on purpose: it is a guard rail against a loop that has run away, not a reason to ask fewer questions about the town. If it bound, the fields that went unresearched are named in `gaps`."}, "reproducibility": {"why": "Re-running the same research prompt for the same city used to return materially different judgement figures, and those figures dominate rides per day. Three variables were taken off the model and rebuilt: the monthly ride-hail share is now computed from a pinned national survey and two measured Census ratios; the per-party visitor trip rate is composed from narrower questions; and what judgement is left is drawn several times and reported as a median with its spread.", "computed_not_judged": ["ridehail_ever_share", "ridehail_active_share_of_users", "ridehail_local_multiplier", "ridehail_month_share", "visitor_air_arrival_share"], "panel_draws": 5, "panel": {"visitor_airport_ridehail_share": {"median": 0.08, "draws": [0.08, 0.05, 0.08, 0.08, 0.08], "min": 0.05, "max": 0.08, "spread_x": 1.6}, "visitor_local_trips_per_stay": {"median": 0.2, "draws": [0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2], "min": 0.1, "max": 0.2, "spread_x": 2.0}, "trips_per_user_month": {"median": 1.6, "draws": [1.6, 1.6, 1.6, 1.8, 1.8], "min": 1.6, "max": 1.8, "spread_x": 1.12}}, "panel_answers_clipped_to_bounds": [], "rides_per_day_range": [4, 13]}, "cross_check": {"has_cross_check": false, "search_was_audited": true, "searched": "Checked in order: (1) Montana PSC motor-carrier pages and the statewide authority list—Rasier-MT (Uber) and Lyft hold Class E certificates for all points in Montana, but PSC publishes no trip counts by city or county and motor-carrier annual reports are revenue, not trips; no Malta taxi certificate identified. (2) City of Malta and Phillips County—no TNC/for-hire permit reports or open-data trip portal. (3) Malta Airport (M75) is general aviation with no TNC pickup stats; nearest commercial airport Glasgow GGW’s master plan counts air-taxi operations and Valley County Transit, not TNC pickups. (4) No metropolitan planning organization covers Phillips County (rural Non-UZA). (5) Phillips County News covers Phillips Transit ridership anecdotally but quotes no taxi or TNC trip totals.", "verdict": ["none", "five named sources were checked and none of them publishes a trip count for this city"], "our_estimate_per_day": 8, "our_range_per_day": [2, 34]}, "replayed_from_saved_research": true, "summary": "This is a planning tool, not a prediction. Of the 80 numbers behind a season in Malta, 26 are published figures, 32 are worked out from published figures, and 22 are our own estimates. 43 of them were read straight out of a federal file that covers every city in the country, so there was no citation to trust and no page to misread. You can change any of them. Your result is only as good as the numbers you agree with.", "federal_cross_check": {"rule": "Every research claim about charging stations, population or airports is checked against a federal bulk file the pipeline already holds on disk: chargers against the DOE/AFDC station snapshot (open, public sites within 10 straight-line miles of the Census town center), population against the Census place and county estimates, airports against the FAA enplanement file. Confirmed means the federal file agrees within tolerance (a stall count within 25% or one stall; a figure within 5%). Disputed means the federal file holds a different figure -- both are printed and the pack keeps its own citation. Unconfirmed means the federal file has no record of the thing claimed, which is never treated as false: the locator is voluntary submission and grant-funded sites lag it. Hospital claims are not checked because no federal hospital file is cached. A planned or permitted site never counts as present.", "checked_on": "2026-09-18", "town_center": [48.355497, -107.870227], "geoid": "3047425", "files": {"chargers": {"name": "US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator", "snapshot": "2026-09-16", "rows": "89386", "views": "dcfc_public / l2_public (status E, public, unrestricted)", "path": "../../american_adventurer/data/camp_leads.sqlite"}, "population": {"place": {"name": "Malta city", "population": 1846, "vintage": "2025", "file": "sub-est2025.csv", "read_on": "2026-09-07"}, "county": {"name": "Phillips County", "population": 4203, "vintage": "2025", "file": "co-est2025-alldata.csv", "read_on": "2026-09-07"}, "name": "US Census Bureau population estimates, vintage 2025"}, "airports": {"name": "FAA CY2024 commercial service enplanements + FAA airport layer", "read_on": "2026-09-07"}, "hospitals": {"skipped": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)"}}, "federal_chargers_within_10mi": {"dcfc_sites": 0, "dcfc_ports": 0, "dcfc_list": [], "l2_sites": 0, "l2_ports": 0, "nearest_dcfc": null}, "counts": {"confirmed": 5, "disputed": 0, "unconfirmed": 0, "skipped_no_file": 9, "claims": 14, "records_touched": 8, "records_read_from_a_federal_file_not_rechecked": 43}, "findings": [{"record": "power_dcfc", "field": "why", "subject": "chargers", "claim": "no public DC fast charger here", "claim_text": "No public DC fast charger exists in Malta, MT (tiny Hi-Line town of ~1,800);", "verdict": "confirmed", "federal": "the DOE/AFDC snapshot lists 0 open public DC fast-charging sites (0 fast ports) within 10 miles -- agrees with the note", "tolerance": "within 10 straight-line miles of the Census town center; a stall count within 25% or one stall"}, {"record": "power_dcfc", "field": "why", "subject": "population", "claim": "1,800 people", "claim_text": "No public DC fast charger exists in Malta, MT (tiny Hi-Line town of ~1,800);", "verdict": "confirmed", "federal": "the note says 1,800; the Census file says Malta city 1,846 (Census vintage 2025) -- within 5%", "tolerance": "within 5%"}, {"record": "night_share", "field": "why", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "the hospital is a 6-bed critical-access ER, not a night-shift campus;", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "night_share", "field": "math", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "Step down onto Malta because there is no college night scene and Phillips County Hospital is a 6-bed CAH (tiny overnight staff, not a 21:00–03:00 shift-change driver).", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "generators_note", "field": "value", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "Phillips County Hospital (6-bed CAH, 83 staff);", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "generators_note", "field": "math", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "Hospital: 6-bed CAH, 83 employees (hospital history page and Cause IQ FY2025 990).", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "hospital_beds", "field": "why", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "Staffed beds at Phillips County Hospital, the only hospital in Malta;", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "hospital_beds", "field": "why", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "the hospital itself and its FY2025 filing describe a 6-bed Critical Access Hospital.", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "hospital_beds", "field": "why", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "A separate hospital About page still says licensed 17-bed (likely swing/extended-care capacity);", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "hospital_beds", "field": "why", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "a 2026 expansion may add extended-care rooms, but current staffed CAH beds are 6.", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}, {"record": "visitor_airport_ridehail_share", "field": "math", "subject": "airports", "claim": "2,970 passengers or enplanements", "claim_text": "GGW is 58.6 miles from town and boarded only 2,970 passengers, so almost every air party rents a car or gets a lift rather than taking a taxi or ride-hail that far.", "verdict": "confirmed", "federal": "the note gives 2,970; FAA CY2024 enplanements for GGW = 2,970 -- within 5%", "tolerance": "within 5%"}, {"record": "rides_per_day", "field": "math", "subject": "population", "claim": "1,846 people", "claim_text": "Residents: 1,846 people x 0.7333 adults = 1,354 adults;", "verdict": "confirmed", "federal": "the note says 1,846; the Census file says Malta city 1,846 (Census vintage 2025) -- within 5%", "tolerance": "within 5%"}, {"record": "notes.power", "field": "text", "subject": "chargers", "claim": "no public DC fast charger here", "claim_text": "Malta MT has no public DCFC (confirmed via AFDC locator, news and network maps).", "verdict": "confirmed", "federal": "the DOE/AFDC snapshot lists 0 open public DC fast-charging sites (0 fast ports) within 10 miles -- agrees with the note", "tolerance": "within 10 straight-line miles of the Census town center; a stall count within 25% or one stall"}, {"record": "notes.geography", "field": "text", "subject": "hospitals", "claim": "hospital bed count", "claim_text": "Hospital About page still says licensed 17-bed;", "verdict": "skipped", "federal": "no federal hospital file is cached (CMS Hospital General Information would be the file; it is not fetched by this rule)", "tolerance": ""}]}, "citation_recheck": {"on": "2026-09-24", "how": "Every citation this pack's build-time check reported as failed was fetched again by hand on 2026-09-24: one request at a time, with the header set a real browser sends, a pause between hosts, a retry with a back-off on 403, 429 and 5xx, and redirects followed and recorded.", "counts": {"rechecked": 1, "gone": 0, "moved": 0, "blocked": 0, "flaky": 0, "answers_normally": 1, "passes_the_same_test_now": 0, "still_fails_the_same_test": 1, "could_not_be_read_today": 0}, "what_this_means": "A citation counted as failed at build time is not the same thing as a dead link. None of this pack's failed citations is a dead page. Where the URL answers and the same test now passes, the original failure was our own fetch being refused, not the source.", "citations": [{"record": "ridehail_present", "url": "https://roamingmontana.com/montana-uber-guide/", "url_today": "answers normally", "detail_today": "HTTP 200 on the first attempt", "build_time_verdict": "the cited page loads but does not carry the figure (the page carries only 6 of the 14 distinctive words in this note)", "same_test_now": "still fails", "same_test_detail": "the page carries only 7 of the 14 distinctive words in this note"}]}}, "ok": true}