Transit Stop: CTA Tracker. Reviews

by Sara20122

The functionality of usability of TransitStop have gone way down ever since their recent upgrades. Only showing the # of minutes away as opposed to the actual ETA makes it more difficult for those of us who have transfers to coordinate. The layout is not intuitive and it often crashes.

More importantly though, the reliability is awful. The estimated times of arrival are off way more than they are on. You’ll have a bus/train that will be “1 minute approaching” for about 10 minutes one day, then you’ll have a train that’s coming in 7 minutes, the 30 seconds later it’s 1 minute away. You’re much better off downloading another app, this is a completely unreliable system.

by Harper Hadley

The times are accurate about half the time. I will commonly miss a bus because when it says 5 minutes, it means anywhere from 1 to 8 minutes (and yes, I am constantly refreshing TransitStop ). Other times TransitStop will say the next bus is 25 minutes away so I don’t need to rush out. However, I’ll see a bus cruise by the stop about 14 minutes later while I watch from the window at work. Had I known a bus would have been there before the time they listed, I would have gladly ran outside earlier. This is a good app only if you don’t need to rely on it and have a large, flexible window for arriving at your destination. If any of the developers or people that provide the data for TransitStop are reading this, please consider providing more accurate data so that this can actually be useful in a somewhat consistent manner.

by KittyKatie222

I deleted it. It worked fine for a few days, then started to freeze and wouldn’t open. Also it’s not easy to use, took me a minute to figure out how to switch back from “favorites “ to “all lines”. All lines are featured for a given stop instead of just the one you wanna use in the direction that you wanna use, it’s confusing when you only have a few seconds to catch the train you need. Used to have a different app on old phone, never failed me and was easy to use, maybe that’s why I’m disappointed with this one.

by Moegr

This was one of the first apps I bought switching to iOS, and I assumed the UI felt weird just because I wasn't familiar with the Apple design language. After a while I have realized the UI for TransitStop is just frustrating, not unfamiliar. No easily accessible list of favorite stops, no auto-refreshing of times, oddly difficult to pull up times for arbitrary stops.

by Nobodiespov

I can imagine that anyone needs a feature where Transit Stop app opens Uber just by shaking he Phone. Please get rid of this. I want to set my phone done on something with the screen on to check the times. But if I set my phone down to hard, or put it in my pocket without putting it to sleep, Uber automatically opens. Idk what they’re paying you, but it’s very inconvenient and totally unnecessary. I deleted Uber and it brought me to TransitStop Store to download the Uber app when I shook my phone. Also, sometimes I’d rather use Lyft. So take this out of TransitStop or tell me how to turn it off.

by BenHousten

Please put the “Reset Data” link button in a more prominent place on TransitStop . It could be higher up on the Settings menu, or even on the main screen. The explanation of the Reset Data button link should also be moved to the same place as the Reset Data button.

I saw the Reset Data link only after I used the Settings link to look for some way to contact the developer to ask for a bus route listing correction.

by Fiycbnubnm

For the most part, I’ll say TransitStop has been pretty reliable, but more recently it’s becoming less reliable. More frequently it says a bus is approaching, but then no bus passes the stop and the next is 15-20 min away. Sometimes it shows no buses scheduled to pass at all, so I call an Uber. While I’m waiting for the uber, a bus goes by and again, I’ve wasted my money. Take the info on TransitStop with a grain of salt - it can cost you time and money.

by Aviolio

As far as CTA apps go, this is my favorite. I love the search feature especially. You don’t have to browse through all of the bus lines like you do on Ventra. I just wish it was a little easier to navigate. It can be difficult to switch between busses and trains. I’m adjusting, but there has to be a more user friendly way to do it!

by DBW45

TransitStop is decent. It does the job. But the UI and functionality could be better. Honestly, Buster was the best CTA app ever designed and the creators stopped updating and supporting it, so it isn’t a 64-bit app, so with iOS 11 o was forced to find something else, to my chagrin. The designers of TransitStop should steal the interface ideas of Buster, since clearly it is no longer a functional app.

by Tayycro

I'll say I don't hate the new UI update, but it could use some fixes. I miss being able to see the time the bus will get to me and how many minutes until it arrives without having to tap multiple times. The distance doesn't really matter, it should go back to being a one tap deal. Ease of use, no? Also, if you've just gone out of searching for a line/route, you should be able to get back to that same line/route immediately when you go back to search. Instead of having to click back through a bunch of times. Hope these changes make it to the next update, if not? I'll still prob use it bc it's the most simple and easy to use unfortunately.

by Firexguy

Definitely a daily use app—multiple times a day. I wish it were a bit faster and more responsive. Sometimes refreshing arrival times takes longer than I think it should and TransitStop is unresponsive for several seconds. Overall one of my most used and useful apps. I don’t know what I’d do without it. Better organized and better UI than any other CTA app I’ve used.

by G.A. SKL

Overall this is one of the most important apps I use on a day to day basis. TransitStop is extremely helpful and works great in terms of functionality with almost no glitches however, there are 2 main issues I’ve identified:
-some buses are not tracked within TransitStop (Missing Buses)
-sometimes TransitStop is tracking a bus that never shows up and as a result you have to weight for the following bus (Phantom Buses)

It’s usually the same bus at the same time every day that is either missing or phantom. These buses usually cause disruption in commute planning resulting in delays one way or another.

Other than these two scenarios, TransitStop is one of the best public transportation apps I’ve seen.

Thanks,
G.A.

by Irish Carver

TransitStop itself is good. I have a few problems tho.
1. When there’s an alert for the trains, I click on the specific one I want to see, another alert for a totally different station appears. It’s frustrating because I can’t see what it’s alerting me to.
2. Early in the morning like 0115 it doesn’t always give me the most accurate listing for trains going to O’Hare. I ride the Belmont bus so connection is crucial. If TransitStop doesn’t always give the most up to date times (even after refreshing it) I can miss my train by 1-2 minutes and have to wait anywhere from 15-20 minutes for the next train.

by Atrophee

Quick with loading times. Favorites for my most used stops. And I can pull up times on my watch so I don’t have to pull out my phone during rush hour.

Full disclosure, I did pay for TransitStop bc I thought the developers deserved it and now I’ve unlocked unlimited favorites. It’s even better.

by Brian R From Chicago

The new update only goes to the saved stops I have. I’ve deleted and reinstalled TransitStop . I’ve restarted my phone and I cannot select three bars in the upper left hand corner to do anything nor search anything.

by Leindurstit

The Apple Watch app (once you set your list of "favorite" CTA bus stops on the phone) is very fast to refresh and is easy to use. Makes for a very convenient way to check on your preferred routes and stops, avoiding the need to pull out your phone entirely.

by CTA ETA

I wrote a review a few weeks ago about bringing back the arrival time display on the favorites page so that I could compare which bus was the fewest minutes away side by side. This function was lost after the recent update. Ask and you shall receive! The ETA function is back on the favorites page. TransitStop once again does exactly what I need it to. Awesome. Thanks!

by Topacka

TransitStop does everything. I always know when I’m going to arrive at my destination with how accurate TransitStop is. I’ve tried a few other transit tracking apps, and none of them have all of the features this one does; like viewing where the bus/train is on the map in real times, showing the bus numbers and train route numbers, allowing you to view future stops, etc.

by KM1080

I love TransitStop and have been using it for years (I even upgraded since I use it so often). I really like the new release but what happened to the default stop when you open TransitStop ? It used to be when you opened TransitStop you could specify a stop as the default. Now it opens on the last stop you used. I tend to rely on TransitStop in the morning and would like to default it to open on my morning stop. The settings also used to allow you to set the default or the last stop but that’s gone too. Can we bring these back?

by Shali9

Some time I like the bus near my bus the 68 route it rans good but some time it comes one minute early and then when you track the. Bus it came early which isn’t not right at all . Some people don’t have time to be tracking the bus . Now on Saturday and sundays they should make it to be out pass nine pm. Should be the last bus ride to people in my area

by Tonweezy

I really appreciate the reliability of the tracker. However, I would like to change a few things:
1. The original listed routes to be in alphabetical order. Once selecting the route, you’re able to select the cross streets and those are listed in alphabetical order, so I don’t quite understand why the original routes aren’t displayed in alphabetical order. I see that they’re in the order of the bus number, but that doesn’t make it very efficient if I don’t know the bus number.
2. Saving selected routes. Fortunately I am able to do so on my Apple Watch, so I again don’t understand why that isn’t an option in TransitStop . It would be very convenient if I could save multiple routes and not have to scroll through a list of routes.

Other than those two things, I’d say TransitStop is pretty reliable. Generally I look at google maps for a broad idea of when to leave my house (because google isn’t reliable for the exact time) I then open TransitStop to get a more reliable time of when the bus/train is arriving. Again, I like TransitStop, but I wish it was a lot more streamlined.

by JoeBlacula

The only problem that I have is that TransitStop won’t refresh itself while ur looking at a bus of train in route. Constantly hitting the refresh button gets frustrating at times. Other than that, it’s the best CTA bus app!!