Citymapper: All Live Transit Reviews

by Travelwitheric2

At first I was excited to use Citymapper. Visiting NYC for the first time was a great opportunity to try this out. I thought it would be great to navigate the subway system and occasionally the bus. It had useful features such as which cars to board for the subway and which station exits to use. Unfortunately, none of these features save you any time or walking. It displays too many route options, and they’re only sorted by how much time they take. The best routes with the least walking aren’t even shown. And if you follow the recommendations for which section to board or which station exit to use, you’ll end up walking even more. If I plug the same destination into Google Maps, it recommends the best route or quickest route, and it uses connections to save steps walking. The only time it came out ahead of google was find a route to JFK. Otherwise, not worth the download.

by Psghosh

With RailBandit no longer an option (development stopped - no 64-bit support), I have been reviewing various apps to help me with my commutes to downtown Philly and NYC. Citymapper has easy to follow directions, watch support, and optimal routing. It saves me a considerable amount of time by even telling me what subway car is optimal (crucial to an efficient commute when transitioning from the train to the subway). It also has a good live data feed to let me know platform and boarding info. The only reason preventing the 5th star is the fact that I need to manually switch metro areas in Citymapper when going to NYC vs Philadelphia. Devs, these regions border each other and many people traverse the two in a daily commute!

by Sistasmash

City Mapper is my main way of getting around New York and it’s the first thing I suggest newcomers download to navigate the transit system, but the newest updates are not good. You used to be able to access the bus routes in real time from within your trip, but now you have to exit all the way out and find them in a roundabout way. The navigation often glitches and won’t let you go forward to back to the next or previous steps once you’re in a trip. It gets stuck and then Citymapper shuts down. The older version never had these issues and they’re such an important part of use for every trip!

by Rissa_L_H

I have used Citymapper and raved about it for years. I recently moved to a new part of Brooklyn and am using a whole new set of subway lines and I’ve had to come to terms with knowing that if I follow Citymapper, I will always be about 10 minutes late.. so I plan accordingly and set my arrival time to be 10 mins earlier than I need to be. Last night I left my apt 5 mins later than Citymapper told me to and arrived at my destination 20 mins late... those 5 minutes might have accounted for me missing a train but it is just incredibly frustrating. Also I don’t know if this is a setting on my phone but the blue dot on my map that tracks my location has also become unreliable. It consistently points me in the wrong direction so I now go the opposite way of where it tells me to go.

by Paradigm

I’ve been using this app for some time. It’s worked for me in my native Brooklyn and when I’ve traveled to Paris, and other cities in the US. I’m temporarily living in ATL and am sad I don’t have this app there (I’m using Whiz). It’s my go-to travel app. Thanks for making it such a great product!

The main reason I’m not giving Citymapper 5 stars is that the times are often much longer (sometimes 2x as long) as it takes to actually travel. For instance, it will say a stop 3 stops away takes 29 minutes no matter what time of day (not including wait time). It takes 10 (including walking time). I’m not sure if they are playing the airline game wherein they give you a longer time to that their “on time” date is higher, but I find it incredibly frustrating if I’m going somewhere else and I leave a lot of extra time and it takes half of it. I would love for CM to tweak their algorithm to be more accurate.

by AllyS36

This is a great app for those who are directionally challenged and would get lost in their own backyard. I love the fact that there is a feature that signals you when it’s time to get off at your stop. I never go anywhere without using this app! It’s also great that Citymapper gives you at least 5 different ways to get anywhere and it includes all modes of transportation. The walking feature is great because it has a blue dot that lets you know if your walking in the right direction or not. Since using Citymapper I’ve never gotten lost and I usually get to my destination faster than Citymapper estimates. This is an essential app for those who travel regularly.

by Nairoko

I am currently traveling through London on spring break with my family and I gotta say Citymapper is the best thing for getting around anywhere. I’d be lost already if it wasn’t for Citymapper. Usually what I have to do to get around would take me 2-4 apps with what this one app does. If you plan on traveling anywhere in the world I highly recommend you download Citymapper. It’s very convenient and offers a ton of options for different modes of transportation. At first it will seem intimidating and a bit overwhelming with all of the ways you can travel but I can guarantee that with a bit of practice Citymapper it can serve you at top notch quality.

by Karry H

I’m completely shocked with how great Citymapper is. I went to New York for the first time in my life and I was scared because I didn’t know where to go to find the subway or which subway I had to take. The city mapper app helped me so much!!. It helped me find the best route for me to take, which subway I had to take, how much I had to walk, what time the subways came, how many stops I had left, and more. It is extremely accurate. Thank you guys so much!!! Awesome job with Citymapper. If you guys are touring New York for the first time and don’t know what to do or how to get around New York City definitely use Citymapper. 10 out of 10

by Bldxyz

Visited Chicago for a week and bought a 1 week CTA Pass: this app was the primary way I understood how to get from place to place! Not only did it show me multiple options, but it also altered me when my stop was coming up! Alerts and status even showed up on my Apple Watch! Really, it was an indispensable tool for that trip.

It’s overall usefulness is not much diminished by the fact that I could not initiate a trip on my watch. I could follow all steps of a trip that I had initiated on my phone, though, and that was very useful: I could keep my iPhone in my pocket while checking status on my watch.

Really useful app!

by Leah R

This is by far the best transit app I’ve ever used. Syncs with my Apple Watch so I get a buzz when I’m one stop away from where I need to get off, so no more missed stops! I work in an area where there are multiple modes of public transport so at any given time I have access to bus predictions, locations and stats of bike share stations, locations of electric scooters and station-less electric bikes. I am able to send a link to friends so that they can track my location during a trip. I can also track the shuttles that are in my hospital’s system.
I don’t usually write reviews but I just have to share how awesome Citymapper is!! There is a new feature for Siri shortcuts too.

by DMyfelt

I don’t review apps. Ever. Unless I have to. Until now. CitiMapper is the single greatest app for getting around a city you do not know. I used it in New York recently and was just stunned. You have to use it to believe it. Tell it where you want to go and it gives you several options for transportation then tells you step by step what to do. With a map to guide you as you go. “Head to the 49th street subway station. Buy a ticket. Go to the platform that says uptown. Etc.” Then it tells you how long until the next train is coming. Updates you for each stop on the train. It really is amazing. Awesome! I have told ten friends about Citymapper already. A must have!

by Rosie From Boston

I recently went to NYC for a long weekend and though I know my way around the city pretty well I explored this visit to places I haven’t been, enter the this app app.

You put in where you want to and it shows you how to get there and a multitude of ways. Whether it be walking taking the train or taking the bus or taking a cab or taking an Uber or Lyft. It gives you the time of each method of transportation how long it will take you to get there and it even gives you an estimated cab and Uber/Lyft fares. If you opt to take the train like I did it tells what car to get on to be closest to an exit and it even gives you walking directions when exiting the train to reach your final destination.

Citymapper is AWESOME! I highly recommend and will use it for years to come. Thank You this app.

by Pepepepezzz

So far I’ve found Citymapper incredibly helpful and accurate in providing the best options for getting somewhere. It includes suggestions of where to be on the train, reminds you when to get off the train, has a helpful map to show you where to walk to/from the train, and even trip costs! I’m curious where they got their train arrival times from, because even the MTA sometimes displays different arrival times on their own different systems. But so far I have not encountered anything particularly incorrect in the info Citymapper provides. Citymapper even includes service changes on lines/buses. So glad someone told me about Citymapper.

by Sailorboy1987

Citymapper is hands down without question the best thing for a commuter since the invention of transit cards! My commute consists of the following; personal vehicle> bus>ferry>bus>shuttle!!! Before Citymapper I had to wrangle 2-4 apps all with varying degrees of reliability to get this mess figured out if I was late or if I was coming home from a different part of the city. Now all I need is ONE!!! I couldn’t be more happy, the interface is amazing and the data provided has been 100% accurate for me everyday. All I can say is keep up the great work and I share Citymapper with everyone I meet since I travel frequently for work and I look forward to Citymapper taking on more cities!

by ChipperChelseaK

With constant updates, added features, and improvements, this is my go-to app. I use it hand in hand with Google Maps. Each have features I like that the other doesn’t. Transportation is a breeze with Citymapper. I’ve used it in both NYC where I live and in London when I went to visit (the offline feature is wonderful as I didn’t have cell service. I would use the WiFi and plan out my trips and save them in the hotel and was able to access my transit directions on the go)

I feel as though there could be some work with the LIRR directions. My commute has a simpler route than suggested and when Citymapper shows it, it’s inconsistently there.

Love Citymapper though!

by Juper2356678990

Recently I visited NYC for 4 days. I have been there three times and each time I was a stressful ball of mess that would be switching back and forth between three different apps and still managing to get lost. NOT ANYMORE !! this app is the best app on the market for nagavating a big city. It took a few trail and errors to get the hang of it but once I got the gist of Citymapper it was super easy . I love the fact that it gives you multiple options for getting to your destination and you just pick the one that works best for you. My preferences was buses with no transfers . So I found it and picked . I didn’t get lost not one time with this app and it actually made traveling the city seem like a breeze .

by 785sailorgirl

This is hands down the most useful app for navigating big cities ever! Far more useful than something simple like google maps. I used this in Paris and in figuring out how to get from one place to another, it tells you how many minutes it will take if you walk, ride a bike, ride a scooter, ride in a car, take the bus or metro. If you take metro for example it will tell you how to walk to the appropriate station, what line to get on, going in which direction, how many stops to ride, what stop to get off or change, how to navigate changes to different lines, and what stop to get off at, and even which street exit to take. Then, the walking route to your final destination. Indispensable!!!!!

by DarfNader

I’ve lived in San Francisco since before there was even NextBus (dark, dark times) and since it came to be, I must have tried a dozen apps for years before I discovered this app. The key is that it calculates the ideal route for you taking into account time to walk to stops, when you need to be somewhere, or whether you want to get there fast or walk the least. It also has every transit system, including ferries and county bus lines like Sam Trans and Golden Gate Transit. Finally, the Apple watch app works very well by alerting you when the bus is coming or when your stop is next. I can’t find a single thing about it I don’t like except that the watch app sometimes needs to be manually started to connect, but that’s really it.

by Wando327

Wow, I just returned from London and used Citymapper extensively while there after learning about Citymapper after doing some research before my trip. London is huge and it’s transit system confusing, but using your app helped me navigate my way around the city without a problem. I paid for the extras which was well worth it. I loved the simple and turbo options when making a decision on my travel choices. Citymapper even gives you an accurate calculation of the trip cost too. Using Citymapper with an earpiece was especially helpful with updates on the underground and bus schedules and gave real time locations even when walking. I can’t recommend it enough, it far exceeded my expectations.

by TitanArt

I don’t write reviews, but I went out of my way to do this. You can pick your time of day of travel and it will tell you how long it will take to get from you start point to your finish point, including where to walk, Which subway exit to take, and even how many calories you will burn. You have multiple options that you can choose for your route and for your method of travel. It’s just awesome. it was my lifeline when traveling in New York City for the first time alone. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Only con is that it can’t pinpoint your current location as accurately as I would like, so I had to wander around a little bit as I neared my Destiination while walking.

by Thourdin

This has been a useful app for transporting myself around San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle area; I haven’t tried it at other major metropolises.

I find the use of minutes left before the next train to not be useful when it comes to connecting transportations.

For example, minutes left in the current train/bus is useful, but when I swipe left to see next transfer, it’ll tell me I have one minute to the connecting train when I still have 20 minutes to ride, which doesn’t help me because I would rather know what time I can expect to arrive and what time is the train i should expect to get on.

by Dimondc

With constant updates, added features, and improvements, this is my go-to app. I use it hand in hand with Google Maps. Each have features I like that the other doesn’t. Transportation is a breeze with Citymapper. I’ve used it in both NYC where I live and in London when I went to visit (the offline feature is wonderful as I didn’t have cell service. I would use the WiFi and plan out my trips and save them in the hotel and was able to access my transit directions on the go)

I feel as though there could be some work with the LIRR directions. My commute has a simpler route than suggested and when Citymapper shows it, it’s inconsistently there.

Love Citymapper though!