Transit is, in many cities, by far the best map app for public transport use. It’s not too good at being a general-purpose map app, but I think it still warrants a mention.
Why I think this tool should be added
This app could be the solution to someone who tries OrganicMaps or OsmAnd and finds that the public transport navigation isn’t as good as Apple/Google maps (I have no idea if this is true, just an example). If added it should probably be mentioned that this app is intended only as a supplement to a general-purpose map app.
Minimum criteria:
Must not collect PII per their privacy policy. Yes
Must not require users to create an account with them. Yes
Must not require users to share location data. If the user opts in to sharing their location, this data must be anonymized: Location data is not shared unless the user uses the “GO” feature (which uses location data to crowdsource transit vehicle locations), which is admittedly a pretty useful feature. If the GO feature is used, the location data shared is pseudonymous by default. It can be made anonymous by enabling “Ghost Mode”.
Must retain core functionality when offline and allow users to download maps for offline use: It still allows you to follow your originally selected route when offline, but you can’t follow new ones or download maps. I think it should get an exception for this one because it doesn’t really make any sense for an app solely focused on public transit to try to function offline.
Best-Case
Apps should be open source. No
Should have route planning for public transport. Yes
Should have real-time traffic information for route planning: Meets the letter (real-time transit info) but not the spirit, which is probably talking about car traffic.
Should support advanced features such as detailed shop/point of interest (POI) information and reviews, topographic maps, and satellite and street view images. No
Don’t know if this app should be added as I’m not an expert, but I’m a big fan of urbanism channels like Not Just Bikes and Strong Towns. I’m all for walkable 15 min cities and better public transport. F cars.
I hadn’t heard of this, so I thought I’d try it out as I was going to a few different places earlier.
Privacy policy generally looks good. Other apps that I’ve used are worse.
But I’ve quite a list of things that it is really lacking compared to other apps. Some of these may be specific to the region I tested it in.
UI/UX is to me rather unclear in how it displays journeys.
Journey routing that it suggested was strange. Other apps generally suggested the same routes/changes.
It’s really slow to work out routes. 10 to 15 seconds compared to under 4 seconds for all the others I tried. I tried different connections/VPNs with no change.
No real time information. It appears to be relying on timetables instead.
No platform information at stations.
It doesn’t show delays or unscheduled works.
It doesn’t show live vehicle positions.
No information as to which exits to use at stations.
No indication as to where to board a vehicle to be closest to the correct exit.
Inaccurate locations given for bus stops. No indicator of what stop number/letter to use when there are multiple in the same location.
I couldn’t find an option to share my ETA or journey details with someone else.
No option to end a journey directly from the notifications.
Journey tracking was always delayed. It kept thinking I was several stops behind. Making the notifications as to when to get off useless. I did give it all requested permissions.
In summary. Nice privacy policy. Too many missing features to be worth using at the moment.
You are correct that some of these features depend on the regions. Transit’s main business model is partnering with the transit agencies themselves and gaining revenue through that. So the quality really depends on whether your transit agency has chosen to do that.
I’m lucky enough to live in a city that has, so I’ll just chime in with what features I have access to.
Full real time information (including vehicle positions) pulled from both the agency, and using their own crowdsourced data.
Delay and cancellation notices directly from the agency (which can be received by notification if you’ve pinned a route).
Minor platform info that can direct you to which platform your bus is on (however I’ve found that it doesn’t keep this well updated if there are changes).
Keep in mind that I’ve found that some cities who haven’t partnered with them still have these features, but the ones that have are guaranteed to have at least this.
I do think your other points are valid, though. The UX is very cumbersome, but I find that I really like having all the nearby routes right on the main screen when I open it up. I generally don’t use the GO feature as I keep my location turned off most of the time, so being able to still see the routes and plan out journeys is very nice. But, they could do a lot better with making this UI more approachable for new users, since it feels both oversimplified and complicated.
The privacy policy is still probably one of the best I’ve seen for this app category (some straight up say they’ll track your location 24/7 ), so I think a few UI/UX issues can be forgiven.
Thanks. I figured some of it was region specific. Though I do find it odd for my region as there’s a free API from the public transit authority with this data. Perhaps they just haven’t fully rolled out here yet.
And yes, the privacy policy definitely looks better than others.
), so I think a few UI/UX issues can be forgiven.