Wave by OCTA User Reviews

Wave by OCTA
Wave by OCTA
Orange County Transportation Authority

What users say

Top reviews

Random log outs

App works fine but sometimes it has a bad habit of logging you out and at the worst time just before the bus comes. Not to mention that it won’t remember your password stored on your phone so the process takes longer and then the bus leaves

Ridiculously stupid

So, I downloaded an app to purchase physical cards, that I subsequently have to pay to be mailed to me?
The main purpose of installing an app on your mobile device is to pay for services without requiring any other physical instrument to process payment.
Whose idea was this? Pay a consultant to hire a software developer from Upwork.
Then a passenger could just purchase passes that can be added to their digital wallet.
This is a ridiculous waste of time and resources when it is more convenient to just pay with cash when a person needs to take a bus somewhere.
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DIDNT WORK WHEN I NEEDED IT.

If you expect this to work every time don’t. I always check my balance at least 10 minutes before I get on the bus, I check it five minutes before, I even leave the page open. When I needed to take the bus I opened it on my way to the bus stop and IT WOULD NOT LOG IN. It kept saying error or invalid. I even made a new account and it still wouldn’t work. The bus I needed doesn’t pass that often so I had to wait even longer to take the next one. Guess what. It still didn’t work, yes I know I can use cash but at that moment I didn’t have any this app is supposed to be reliable and make things easier but it didn’t. Please fix your app!!
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Sign Out

This app keeps logging me out even though I have an account with them. The struggle is so real when I put in my password that is correct it keeps saying error so please fix this bug…

Missed bus due to errors

I missed the bus 4 times already due to payment not letting me thru I never had this problem with older app

Easy to Navigate

The app is easy to navigate but keeps signing me off, after a while not using the app, I hope they can find a solution for it and add some new features for example Face ID overall very easy to use.

terrible

Everytime I tried loading money into my card, and I got on the bus it would always say “X” on the screen for no reason even when I had enough balance to ride it. I don’t know if it was a glitch but overall the old system was better.

Ngl this app sucks

This app is always having issues processing payments and when I try to logout and delete the app in an attempt to fix the issue, it says the actual bus card is linked to another device 💀 they need to bring back the old app cuz this one is booty cheeks

Monthly Bus Pass

I would say 5 stars however it was hidden knowledge to get a monthly bus pass you have to add $69 to the virtual card I was told when I called customer service. It’s my first day using it so far it still shows $69 balance so it seem like I was told accurate information however the app should be able to allow us to purchase the monthly or 90day or yearly rides instead of having to call in if this can be corrected this app would be 5stars!
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Horrible

If there was zero stars id select it. App is horrible not user friendly aswell as loggin is extremely fustrating.

Downloadable Obstacle

Wave by OCTA manages to accomplish something impressive: it takes what should be a simple task, paying to ride a bus, and turns it into a small logistical project.

Based on the reviews, I’m clearly not the only one experiencing the same issues. The app sits at roughly a two-star rating, and after using it for a while it becomes obvious why. The entire thing feels less like a tool meant to help riders and more like a pointless middleman inserted purely so OCTA can track transactions.

The biggest issue is reliability. The app absolutely refuses to stay signed in or remember login information consistently. That means when you’re actually standing at a bus stop and need to use it, you’re often locked out until you go through the login process again. If you’re lucky, that’s just a couple minutes. If you’re not, you’re resetting passwords and fighting with verification screens while the bus you were trying to catch drives away.

Public transit apps should reduce friction. This one adds it.

What makes it more frustrating is that the complaints in the reviews are almost identical to what you experience using it. That strongly suggests the designers either didn’t test the app in real commuting situations or simply didn’t prioritize the rider experience when building it.

At the moment, the app feels less like a convenience and more like a downloadable obstacle placed between riders and the bus they’re trying to board.
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Can’t even register

The app was so bad that I can’t even register for my account. Please fix it

Trash

Bring back the (OC Bus) app! It was so much easier and more efficient. Wave app has no daily passes or monthly passes that I can purchase! Y’all just made it worse and more frustrating to ride the bus!

Stop logging users out!

Constantly logging me out. No reason to do this whatsoever. Makes me not want to use it ever, and I won’t. I will pay with my credit card or cash. No thanks.

It keeps signing me out

Why does this app keep signing me out I rather get a physical card then deal with this app again

Horrible

Logs me out and won’t send an email to reset my password seems like this app sucks in general

App sucks <\3

App straight ASSS!!!

Worse than physical passes

The app kicks me out constantly, makes me reset my password, and kicks me out again the next day

this app is terrible and octa sucks

the paying button gets stuck and I spent half the trip trying to get it to allow me to pay. It logs me o ur every few uses and OCTA getting rid of the one day pass is a spit in the face. where does our money go in this city to destroy making transit possible for people.

Keeps logging me out

Why is there no remember me option?? Twice now I have opened the app to scan but I’m logged out. It’s so awkward just standing there logging in while the whole bus is waiting for me. Please fix this