Third Rail is great for when you just need to know when the bus is coming with enough time to get up off the couch. Moovit was best for when you just zone out on your commute, CGI transit for complicated trips, and Citymapper for going unfamiliar places.

Three of those four fulfill the key elements of a good transit app, with slightly different strengths.

But the search for alternatives can a nightmare - so Inverse tried 11 different free transit apps and found four that are actually worth using. It regularly fails to tell the difference between local and express train travel times in the New York subway, for example. There are two things that a good one will offer: First, it tells you the fastest way to take your regular routes, and secondly, it gives fail-safe directions to places you’ve never visited, especially cities with highly complicated transportation systems.Īnd although Google Maps is the most commonly used mass transit app, it isn’t always the best. If you want to get around without a car in a city, you’re going to need a transportation app.

Is citymapper better than google maps