MassDOT BusPlus vs FRTA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MassDOT BusPlus
Purchase and use intercity and commuter bus tickets directly from your phone. Plan your trip, select tickets, create an account, and activate your ticket to show the driver. An internet connection is needed for purchase, but tickets can be used offline.
- Purchase bus tickets
- Use tickets offline
- Plan trips
- Secure payments
- Account creation
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The official mobile ticketing app of BusPlus – a program of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The BusPlus app lets you purchase and use intercity and commuter bus tickets instantly on your phone. Here’s how it works: 1. Plan a trip by selecting an origin, destination, and schedule 2. Choose the type of ticket and quantity 3. Create an account and link your credit/debit card to complete checkout 4. Activate your ticket and show it to the bus driver An internet connection is required to purchase tickets, but you can use your ticket(s) offline. All personal information and payments are securely transmitted and stored. Please contact support@bytemark.co for customer service assistance. Any comments or suggestions you may have are welcome. We are aware of problems with the scanning feature while adding new credit cards, and are working to correct this issue.
FRTA
This app offers a flexible and convenient way to manage your rides within Franklin County and the North Quabbin region. View upcoming and past trips, receive accurate ETAs, and easily access your account 24/7.
- Manage trips with flexibility
- View upcoming and completed trips
- Easily cancel trips
- Passenger notifications with ETAs
- 24/7 account access
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FRTA is a new ride-share service that will help residents travel more easily within Franklin County and the North Quabbin region by offering: -Flexibility to manage trips *View upcoming and completed trips *Easily cancel trips -Convenient Trip Details View *Passenger notifications with accurate vehicle ETAs -Simple Mobile Interface *24/7 access to account profiles, settings, and reservations
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MassDOT BusPlus at 4.4 against FRTA's 3.5. MassDOT BusPlus also leads on ratings volume (259 vs 6). FRTA's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 59%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MassDOT BusPlus holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MassDOT BusPlus has 259 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of MassDOT BusPlus's written reviews are positive against 100% of FRTA's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
MassDOT BusPlus ships an update every 9 months, FRTA every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MassDOT BusPlus | FRTA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (259 ratings) — better | 3.5 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 59.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 259 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 108 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bytemark, Inc. | Franklin Regional Transit Authority |
Customer experience
MassDOT BusPlus
FRTA
Bugs and requests
MassDOT BusPlus
Reported bugs
10 issues- Purchased tickets disappear after first day
- App glitches and logs out users
- Login and account creation errors
- QR codes for tickets not working
- Lost money due to voided tickets
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- Inability to display passes after first day
- Autocomplete for location searching is broken
- Time zone error preventing login
- Purchased passes disappear from history
- Weekly passes only display on activation day
Requested features
6 requests- Discount bus pass for days remaining before free bus
- Post more information on the application
- Allow adding TAP card for reduced fare
- Add Apple Wallet support for passes
- Improve trip planner functionality
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- Make app more intuitive/easier to learn
FRTA
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
MassDOT BusPlus
No in-app purchases
FRTA
No in-app purchases
