Need help getting somewhere? Public transportation is a great way to get across town without spending a whole lot of cash. Personally, I love the experience of going to a bus stop, catching the bus and exploring the town. Not only do you save money and help the environment, but you can also read a book or news on the way, enjoy the view and see different people every day!
I must admit though, finding a route to get from point A to point B can be confusing, even in your own town. Let alone if you are visiting a new city! So, instead of looking up the bus schedule every time I want to go out, I decided to find the best public transit apps, so I could easily find my way around town anytime, anywhere. After spending some time on Google, I came across a website that has a list of the top 10 apps for public transportation.
I tested some of the apps on their top 10 list and reviewed my top 4 favorites.
Citymapper for multiple transportation modes
Citymapper is my first pick. I found it to be a great choice if you don’t want to rely only on bus transportation to get around town. By selecting your starting point and destination, you instantly get several transportation options combining different transportation modes that are available in your city. I was particularly impressed that practically every public transportation mode is used to find the best route, including bus, subway, ferry, bike-share, train, walking and more! I also liked that Citymapper is available in more than 30 different cities across the world, making it a great travel companion too!
Although I did not run into any issues, some users pointed out that you need to manually switch metro areas when traveling between cities. However, I found it really easy to switch from one city to another as the interface is highly intuitive and easy to use, so you won’t waste any time!
MyTransit NYC (Android) for easily getting around NYC
MyTransit NYC for Android is my second pick, as it does a great job at compiling all the information you need to get around one of the busiest cities in the world, New York City! Whether you want to quickly check the MTA bus time, the NYC Subway time, or any other transit information in the NYC area, you will find what you need. I particularly like that you can get alert notifications when a commute has been delayed, so you can instantly take a detour to make it to your destination on time.
Although I found MyTransit’s schedules to be highly detailed, with information for every metro line and bus route, I didn’t find an option to view timetables by the station. However, you can view them by line, which is useful for quickly viewing future departure times at a glance.
NYC Transit (iOS) for tracking buses in NYC
NYC Transit for iOS is my third pick. Like MyTransit NYC, it also specializes in public transportation options in the NYC area. In particular, I really liked that you can get live updates and track buses across NYC, so you can know how far the bus is from your station! I also liked that you get step-by-step live navigation, so you won’t make any mistakes when traveling to your destination.
Although NYC Transit’s transportation schedules show up-to-date information for public transit schedules, they do not reflect delays in the service. However, I found the live bus and train tracking feature quickly makes up for it, as you can see exactly where the buses and trains are anytime!
Moovit for traveling around the world
Moovit is my fourth pick. I found this to be a great choice if you travel frequently around the world and want to find the best transportation options wherever you are. There are more than 2,600 cities included in its database, so even if you are in Rio de Janeiro, London, Seoul or Madrid, you will easily find your way around. I also liked that you can view bike routes and include them in your route planning!
While using Moovit, I did encounter a few bugs, as the app would occasionally crash. However, I noticed that after reloading the app, I could quickly get back to finding the information I needed. Hopefully, the developers can address this issue in a future update, as it is the only drawback I found!
Conclusion
There are my top 4 picks for easily finding the best public transportation option. Whether you are looking for an MTA or CTA bus tracker or simply want to find the fastest way to get to your destination, you will find exactly what you need. With these public transit apps at your fingertips, you’ll save lots of valuable time and quickly get to where you need to go! My personal favorite is Citymapper. What about you? Let me know in the comments below!
