diff --git a/internal/gtfs/config.go b/internal/gtfs/config.go
index 2b189e62..4edd8e98 100644
--- a/internal/gtfs/config.go
+++ b/internal/gtfs/config.go
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	StaticAuthHeaderValue string
 	RTFeeds               []RTFeedConfig
 	GTFSDataPath          string
-	Env                   appconf.Environment
-	Verbose               bool
-	EnableGTFSTidy        bool
-	StartupRetries        []time.Duration
+	Env             appconf.Environment
+	Verbose         bool
+	EnableGTFSTidy  bool
+	StartupRetries  []time.Duration // Backoff durations between startup load attempts; defaults to [5s,15s,30s,60s]
 }
 
 // enabledFeeds returns only the enabled feeds that have at least one URL configured.
diff --git a/internal/gtfs/gtfs_manager.go b/internal/gtfs/gtfs_manager.go
index 1f5a8edd..52d6fcf7 100644
--- a/internal/gtfs/gtfs_manager.go
+++ b/internal/gtfs/gtfs_manager.go
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func InitGTFSManager(ctx context.Context, config Config) (*Manager, error) {
 		attemptsMade = attempt
 		// Attempt to load in-memory static data if we haven't already succeeded
 		if staticData == nil {
-			staticData, err = loadGTFSData(config.GtfsURL, isLocalFile, config)
+			staticData, err = loadGTFSData(ctx, config.GtfsURL, isLocalFile, config)
 			if err != nil {
 				if attempt < maxAttempts {
 					delay := backoffs[attempt-1]
diff --git a/internal/gtfs/static.go b/internal/gtfs/static.go
index b2c1d5e0..3e2f6593 100644
--- a/internal/gtfs/static.go
+++ b/internal/gtfs/static.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"maglev.onebusaway.org/internal/logging"
 )
 
-func rawGtfsData(source string, isLocalFile bool, config Config) ([]byte, error) {
+func rawGtfsData(ctx context.Context, source string, isLocalFile bool, config Config) ([]byte, error) {
 	var b []byte
 	var err error
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ func rawGtfsData(source string, isLocalFile bool, config Config) ([]byte, error)
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading local GTFS file: %w", err)
 		}
 	} else {
-		req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", source, nil)
+		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", source, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating GTFS request: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ func buildGtfsDB(ctx context.Context, config Config, isLocalFile bool, dbPath st
 }
 
 // loadGTFSData loads and parses GTFS data from either a URL or a local file
-func loadGTFSData(source string, isLocalFile bool, config Config) (*gtfs.Static, error) {
-	b, err := rawGtfsData(source, isLocalFile, config)
+func loadGTFSData(ctx context.Context, source string, isLocalFile bool, config Config) (*gtfs.Static, error) {
+	b, err := rawGtfsData(ctx, source, isLocalFile, config)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading GTFS data: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func (manager *Manager) ForceUpdate(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	logger := slog.Default().With(slog.String("component", "gtfs_updater"))
 
-	newStaticData, err := loadGTFSData(manager.config.GtfsURL, manager.isLocalFile, manager.config)
+	newStaticData, err := loadGTFSData(ctx, manager.config.GtfsURL, manager.isLocalFile, manager.config)
 	if err != nil {
 		logging.LogError(logger, "Error updating GTFS data", err,
 			slog.String("source", manager.config.GtfsURL))