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10 best transit apps and transportation apps for Android
Public transit is on the rise almost everywhere in the world. In the US alone, public transit is up 34% since 1995. Companies like Uber have revolutionized the space with more flexible (and dare we say, hip and cool) public transit options. Additionally, other companies like Citymapper have made existing transit easier to use. You can find transit apps all over the place that help you find a variety of transportation. Here are the best transit apps for Android. Every app on this list is free to use, but rides do cost money for all of them.
The best transit apps for Android
Cabify (two apps)
Price: Free
Cabify is a taxi app that has it more together. It has one of the larger footprints of any of the transit apps. The app currently covers over 400 cities in South, Central, and North America (up through Mexico). It works rather easily. The app finds your GPS location. You can then hail a ride to that location. People have the option to store their credit card info for even more features. There are also some cities in the Middle East region that the app covers. It does have a few issues. However, most of them are minor. There is an official Cabify app here and then there’s Easy Taxi, an app by Cabify, at the button below.
Citymapper
Price: Free
Citymapper is a good entry point for transit apps. It has support for most things. That includes taxis, subways, trains, ferries, cabs, and even Uber and Lyft. You can also get departure times, alerts, step-by-step directions, and offline maps in some areas. It covers about a dozen cities in the US, a few in Canada, over a dozen in Europe, and a few in Asia and Australia. People interested can vote to have their areas eventually covered. It’s not perfect for everybody. However, it’s a good start.
Curb
Price: Free
Curb is one of the up-and-coming transit apps. It’s a taxi app that connects you to 50,000+ taxis in 65 US cities. That includes the big ones like New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. You can request an immediate ride if needed. Alternatively, you can book a cab for later. You can even use the app to pay for rides you find on your own. It’s new and it’s going through its fair share of issues. It’s something to keep an eye on in the coming months and years as it grows.
See also: The best travel apps for Android
EasyWay
Price: Free / $2.99
EasyWay is a public transit app that services Eastern Europe. That includes over 50 cities in Ukraine, over 50 cities in Russia, and a few places in Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Moldova. It’s simple to use. You just open it, find your location, and then order a ride. You can search for optimal routes, bookmark various information, and there is even an offline mode. It covers a large part of that area of the world. Some people have had issues. However, the experience should be mostly positive.
Lyft
Price: Free
Lyft is one of the most popular transit apps out there. It competes directly with Uber’s service. The service is only available in the US right now. However, it covers a really large portion of the US. Additionally, they announced in early 2017 that a global expansion was imminent. The service works well. You can split checks between multiple riders, pay through the app, and more. It’s a really good alternative to Uber if you don’t like them for whatever reason. They’ll be even better when they go global.
Moovit
Price: Free
Moovit is another one of the most popular transit apps out there. It supports over 2,000 cities with more on the way. That makes it one of the biggest in this space. It doesn’t provide rides on its own. However, you can use it to find train schedules, bus schedules, subway schedules, trams, and more. You can then use that info to get to your destination. It even has unique stuff like bike-sharing for those days when you want to ride. Most people have good experiences with this one. We recommend you try this one out first.
OneBusAway
Price: Free
OneBusAway is one of the newer transit apps. It currently supports a few cities in the US. That includes New York, San Diego, Rogue Valley for some reason, Tampa Bay, and Washington DC. The app helps you find bus stops in your area. It also sources arrival times with the local transportation agency. The app is simple to use. It shouldn’t take long to get it open and find the next bus arrival time. The developers plan on expanding more later. It’ll be pretty good when it does.
See also: How to use Google Maps offline
Transit
Price: Free
Transit is growing quickly. It also has a decent-sized footprint. It supports over 125 cities across the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe. It’ll tell you schedules for buses, subways, and similar modes of transportation. It also has alerts, step-by-step navigation, bike-sharing stations, and integration with Uber. It also syncs up with local transportation agencies in most of the cities it supports. The design is simply fantastic as well. Most of the user complaints are about the occasionally wrong arrival times of the occasional bus or train.
Uber
Price: Free
Uber is essentially the Google of transit apps. It wasn’t the first, but it definitely covers the most bases. The service covers more than 500 cities worldwide and expanding frequently. It features the usual stuff. It’ll ping your location and you can hail an Uber through the app. You can also pay through the app, rate your drivers, and more. It’s definitely the most iconic transportation app out there. We’ve all heard those Uber driver stories on Facebook. Thankfully, they’re pretty rare in real life. The service usually works as expected.
See also: The best food delivery apps for Android
Your local transit apps
Price: Free
Most of this list is focused on worldwide services or the US. Most of our readers are in the US but we try to be helpful for everybody. There are tons of transit apps for many countries and larger cities around the world. The linked app is CittaMobi, a transit app that covers São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Large cities like New York have apps dedicated just to its transportation. It’s worth looking around Google Play to see if there are transportation apps available for your city or country. Chances are there are at least one.
If we missed any great transit apps in your area, tell us about them below! You can also click here to see our latest Android app and game lists!
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