For determining the easiest way to get from Point A to Point B, you’ll want to rely on Citymapper.
Best overall
Citymapper
See at Google Play
Citymapper is the best transit app that you can use on your Android phone, as long as you are in a supported city. When you need help traversing larger cities, like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle or any number of international cities, that is where Citymapper comes in. The app can factor in buses, trains, subways, bikes and cabs, removing the daunting task of figuring out how to get from point A to B in the fastest or least stressful way possible.
Citymapper pulls all of this information into one place so you can check out the available options and see which is best for you. From directions that use the bus, subway, rail and even bikes, Citymapper will help you find the best place to get on the transportation method nearest you, and which stop you will want to get off. If you are one to travel into smaller cities, you may find that Citymapper doesn’t yet offer support for it. Luckily, Citymapper is always looking to expand the areas that it supports and you can easily suggest a new location to be added.
Citymapper is a free app, but you are at the mercy of the locations that they pick to support.
Bottom line: If you often find yourself in big cities that you don’t know your way around, you’ll want to make sure that Citymapper is installed on your phone and ready to go.
One more thing: As of now the number of cities that are fully supported are somewhat limited, but if you are traveling to big cities this app will serve you well.
Why Citymapper is the best
A powerful app that brings all your local transit options to one place.
Citymapper is your best bet for getting around a new city, as long as it is one of the supported cities by the app. Whether you are looking to take a train to the other side of town, or take a bus to a different section, Citymapper pulls all the data into one place. You can easily see on the map how long it will take you to get somewhere with each transportation method, allowing you to easily pick the one that best meets your needs.
PCMag put some of the transit apps head to head and said:
For New York, Citymapper gave by far the best routes. It tells you which section of the train to get on for the easiest transfers, and even offers “rain safe” routes which are underground as much as possible. It had all of the oddball non-NYC Transit options in the New York metro area. Its bikeshare option (shown at left) clearly shows how many bikes are available and where to drop them off. It’s only available in 30 cities, but I found it the clearest and best routing engine for most point-to-point routes.
The beauty of Citymapper is in its simplicity: you only need to open the app from your location and tell it where you want to go, and the extensive database will take into account the various means of getting somewhere — bus, subway, tram, even walking — to determine the ideal route. It’s even smart enough to tell you when to leave to get there at a particular time, or which door to exit from to emerge from a subway closest to your location. The app is well-designed and extremely intuitive, and it functions as a replacement for Google Maps in every way but for driving directions.
Best for all locations
Google Maps
See at Google Play
If you are looking for options in the most places possible, Google Maps is likely your best bet. While the other apps specialize in particular cities, Google is a bit more generic. This can be a good and bad thing at the same time. Sure, you’ll have more information at your fingertips with Google Maps, but the overall density of information may not be as high.
Once you find your location on the map, you’ll be able to pick between driving, taking a bus, train routes, walking directions and more. From the settings you’ll be able to set a time you want to leave or arrive so that you can see accurate commute options for that trip.
Bottom line: If versatility is what you are looking for, Google Maps may be your best bet. It won’t offer all the options that other apps will, but you will have support in the most cities.
One more thing: Be sure to turn the traffic option on so you are able to see where you will hit delays on your journey.
Best for offline
Transit
See at Google Play
Transit offers support in more than 120 cities already both in and out of the U.S. From an easy way to grab step-by-step directions to get you around a new city to real-time predictions of when the next train or bus may arrive, Transit is quite powerful. The built-in map will show you where your train is, notifications of when to get off at your stop and more so you won’t get lost in that new city.
Whether you have an internet connection or not you’ll be able to view the schedule for upcoming departures, check estimated time of arrivals (ETAs) and even request an Uber if no other method of transportation meets your needs. It has support for nearly all methods of transportation, including ferry, Uber, bus, rail, train, bike, car2go and others.
Transit is a great alternative to Citymapper and a great addition to Google Maps for those times you may need more in-depth information about getting around where you are.
Bottom line: Transit offers support for more cities than Citymapper does, but its feature set isn’t quiet as extensive.
One more thing: You’ll have great support for a list of U.S. cities, and you can also use it in many cities in Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Best to customize
Transit Directions by Moovit
See at Google Play
Transit Directions by Moovit offers support for more than 1,200 cities around the world, which is far more than many of the other apps out there. Just because it supports more cities doesn’t mean it’s the best though. The interface is a bit different than others, and some may find that it works for them and others will be turned off and go back to another option.
The features within the app are great, though. With live directions that notify you when to get off at your stop, real-time arrival information, a favorites screen to quickly access places you frequently visit and more, there is no shortage of information in the app. The Moovit widget will help you keep an eye on your favorite destinations and travel lines to make sure things are operating as normal, and you can receive a notifications for service alerts when things aren’t running as usual.
Bottom line: If the other options haven’t met your needs, Moovit may be able to slide in with the assist. It offers similar features to the others, but with support for more cities.
One more thing: Service alerts will help keep you on top of your travel, even when you aren’t looking at it with notifications of delays or other issues that will affect your travel.
Conclusion
Depending where you live or where you will be visiting, one app may work better than the others. If you are in a supported city, Citymapper is the way to go. If you aren’t in one of them, you should suggest for it to be the next supported city, and then check out one of the other options. Don’t want to have multiple apps installed to do this for you? Google Maps may be the way to go, but you may not see all your available routes this way.
Best overall
Citymapper
See at Google Play
Citymapper is the best transit app that you can use on your Android phone, as long as you are in a supported city. When you need help traversing larger cities, like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle or any number of international cities, that is where Citymapper comes in. The app can factor in buses, trains, subways, bikes and cabs, removing the daunting task of figuring out how to get from point A to B in the fastest or least stressful way possible.
Citymapper pulls all of this information into one place so you can check out the available options and see which is best for you. From directions that use the bus, subway, rail and even bikes, Citymapper will help you find the best place to get on the transportation method nearest you, and which stop you will want to get off. If you are one to travel into smaller cities, you may find that Citymapper doesn’t yet offer support for it. Luckily, Citymapper is always looking to expand the areas that it supports and you can easily suggest a new location to be added.
Citymapper is a free app, but you are at the mercy of the locations that they pick to support.
Bottom line: If you often find yourself in big cities that you don’t know your way around, you’ll want to make sure that Citymapper is installed on your phone and ready to go.
One more thing: As of now the number of cities that are fully supported are somewhat limited, but if you are traveling to big cities this app will serve you well.