Transit review

Transit ranks first because it is built only for people who ride buses and trains. Its App Store listing promises live departure times and real-time vehicle tracking in 1,000+ cities, using agency data, crowdsourced data from its GO mode and an in-house ETA prediction engine. GO adds alarms that tell you when to leave, when to get off and when to transfer. Bus schedules, stop locations and the trip planner also work offline, and you can pay fares in the app in 100+ cities. The trade-off is Transit Royale: the company says looking up departure times far into the future and browsing lines farther away require a subscription, though its core next-departure features stay free and 200+ agencies now sponsor Royale for their riders. US App Store plans start at $2.99 a month. It holds a 4.6 rating from 1 million ratings. We compared documented features and published prices; we did not ride test routes.

Who it is for

Daily bus riders in North American cities who want the most accurate next-bus times on one screen.

Price

Free core app; Transit Royale is listed from $2.99 a month on the US App Store.

Transit Royale - Monthly $2.99
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Live departure times and real-time vehicle tracking
• Trip planning that mixes bus, subway, train, bikeshare and scooters
• GO step-by-step mode with departure alarms and stop alerts
• Bus schedules, stop locations and the trip planner work offline
• In-app fare payment and bikeshare passes in 100+ cities

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Opens straight to nearby lines and their next departures
• Strength: Crowd data from GO riders sharpens ETAs for everyone
• Strength: Core real-time features stay free
• Weakness: Royale is needed to look up departures far ahead or browse lines farther away
• Weakness: Royale prices vary, with monthly plans from $2.99 to $5.00 listed
• Weakness: GPS in the background can drain the battery

Key facts

• App Store rating: 4.6 from 1M ratings
• Google Play downloads: 10M+
• Agencies sponsoring free Royale: 200+
• App size: 245.5 MB
• Age rating: 4+

Where it ranks

Transit is No. 2 in our Best Map Apps for Bus Routes verdict.