Alternatives to Transit • Subway & Bus Times
By App Store Tracker Editorial · Updated — live App Store data verified
The short version
Transit gives live departure times, real-time vehicle tracking, and trip planning for public transit in 1,000+ cities. Reviewers love the live map but say arrival-time accuracy can be off. The closest swaps are Citymapper, beloved for travel and city trips, and Moovit, a huge multimodal planner. City-specific apps like NYC Transit and Boston Transit are great if you ride one system. The list ranks by embedding similarity and live App Store ratings.
The app you searched for
Transit App, Inc.
Track NYC MTA, CTA, LA Metro
Transit is a daily commuter tool: see when your bus or train actually arrives, watch vehicles move on a live map, plan multimodal routes, and get delay alerts across more than a thousand cities. People look for alternatives for reasons its reviews raise, mainly arrival-time accuracy that can drift, plus a redesign some found harder to use. The picks below all do the core job, real-time arrivals, trip planning, and stop alerts, but split into two groups. Multi-city planners like Citymapper and Moovit work in many places and excel for travelers. City-specific apps focus on one transit system, often with sharper local data. Since accuracy depends partly on the agency's data feed, no app is perfect everywhere. We ranked these alternatives by embedding similarity to Transit, then weighed live App Store ratings and review volume so the proven, widely used apps surface above brand-new listings. Most are free with optional premium upgrades.
Why it's similar
Both give real-time arrivals, live vehicle tracking on a map, and quick nearby departures across major US cities and beyond. The track-and-plan-your-ride experience closely matches Transit.
How it differs
CityTransit covers many agencies in one app with similar tools but is far smaller at 277 ratings, so it is less proven. It is paid with in-app purchases, where Transit is free to start.
Why it's similar
Both plan routes across multiple transit modes with live times, comparing bus, rail, walking, and rideshare options. The compare-every-way-to-get-there approach closely matches Transit.
How it differs
Citymapper shines for travelers, with reviewers praising its accuracy across cities worldwide, get-off-the-stop buzzes, and cost estimates. At 4.87 across 101,842 ratings it edges Transit on rating and is the top pick for trips and unfamiliar cities.
Why it's similar
Both deliver real-time subway, bus, and train tracking with trip planning and get-off-your-stop alerts. The live-arrivals-and-alerts experience matches Transit, here focused on New York.
How it differs
NYC Transit covers only the MTA, LIRR, and Metro-North rather than Transit's 1,000+ cities, so it is for New York riders specifically. With 37,626 ratings it is a well-established single-system alternative with sharp local focus.
Why it's similar
Both find nearby stations, show upcoming departures in a couple of taps, track vehicles in real time where available, and include a trip planner. The plan-and-track-your-transit approach matches Transit.
How it differs
Transit.Tracker supports multiple metro areas but is smaller at 3,344 ratings and a 4.49 average, so it is less proven. Its real-time data, like Transit's, depends on agency feeds and is not available everywhere.
Why it's similar
Both help you plan routes across metro, subway, tram, bus, and train networks with interactive maps. The plan-routes-on-a-map approach overlaps with Transit, aimed at travelers and commuters.
How it differs
Mapway leans on schematic transit maps and easy city-switching rather than Transit's live vehicle tracking depth. At 4.39 across 1,094 ratings it is smaller and more map-focused than the seed.
Why it's similar
Both offer live tracking, stop and schedule alerts, trip planning, and offline maps for public transit. The live-times-and-alerts experience matches Transit, here built for Boston.
How it differs
Boston Transit covers only the MBTA bus, subway, commuter rail, and ferry rather than Transit's many cities, so it suits Boston riders. With 246 ratings it is small but well rated, a focused single-system option.
Why it's similar
Both provide up-to-date public-transport routes and let you compare efficient bus, tram, and metro options with departure times. The plan-your-commute approach matches Transit.
How it differs
Routees is brand-new with zero ratings, so it is completely unproven. It lacks Transit's large real-time network, broad city coverage, and established user base.
Moovit App Global LTD
Why it's similar
Both deliver real-time GPS arrivals, multimodal trip planning, and stop information across many cities, including buses, trains, and scooters. The all-in-one urban transit experience closely matches Transit.
How it differs
Moovit is a global heavyweight with digital ticketing in select cities and very wide coverage. At 4.65 across 57,481 ratings it is one of the most proven alternatives here, a strong multi-city rival to Transit.
Why it's similar
Both offer live bus, train, and subway tracking, smart trip planning, stop alerts, and offline maps with home-screen widgets. The track-plan-and-alert experience closely matches Transit.
How it differs
Momego pitches accuracy and ease as its angle across cities. At 4.55 across 5,301 ratings it is smaller and less proven than Transit, though it covers similar features for commuters.
Why it's similar
Both show live vehicle locations and arrival times on a map with favorites and nearby stops across major US cities. The live-map-and-arrivals experience matches Transit.
How it differs
Busly adds detailed vehicle info like occupancy, accessibility, and bikes-allowed, but covers fewer systems like SF Muni, WMATA, and MBTA. At 469 ratings it is small and city-limited compared with Transit's broad reach.
Every app in our database carries a dense vector embedding derived from its title, subtitle, full description, and category metadata. To find apps similar to Transit • Subway & Bus Times, we compute cosine distance against every other app and surface the closest 60 candidates. The similarity score shown on each pick is 1 - distance/2 clamped to [0,1] — 100% means the embedding spaces are identical, 0% means orthogonal.
We then re-rank the candidate set using current App Store rating and review-count signals so a 4.8-star app with 100,000 reviews ranks above a 4.5-star app with 200 reviews even when their embedding distance is similar. Apps that haven't shipped an update in 12 months are filtered out before re-ranking.
The similarity cache is recomputed weekly. Live App Store data (rating, review count) is verified every 6 hours.
No paid placements. No affiliate links. No sponsored picks. Read our full methodology.
More popular iPhone apps with curated alternative lists, each ranked by embedding similarity, rating, and category fit.
