Metro Transit vs PermitPulse

Make transit trips in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area as mobile as you are with the official Metro Transit app. Now you can plan your trip, see departure information for buses and trains, and buy transit tickets all on the go! Just download the free app, create an account with your method of payment, and get moving. The Metro Transit app is a tool to make riding the bus, METRO system and Northstar in the Twin Cities a little bit easier. After you’ve identified your desired trip and transit departure time, you can buy and use Metro Transit mobile tickets right from your smartphone – it’s like having a ticket machine right in your pocket! KEY FEATURES: Find the right bus, light rail, or train for you through the Trip Planner. See the next available bus, light rail, or train for your desired trip with NexTrip. Pay a single fare or multiple fares for a group of riders, and store multiple tickets on your phone for future use. Simply create an account and enter your credit/debit card information in our secure system. If you’re looking to pay with cash, you can use a pre-paid debit card or pre-paid gift card. HOW IT WORKS: 1. SELECT RIDER TYPE: Adult, Senior/Youth/Medicare, Mobility, Family 2. SELECT SERVICE: Local Bus/METRO, Express Bus, or Northstar 3. SELECT: Station for Northstar or time-based fare for Bus/METRO 4. CHECKOUT: Pay with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, pre-paid debit or gift card, or Apple Pay COMMON QUESTIONS: Do I need to be connected? An internet connection is required create an account, sign-in and purchase and activate tickets. What if my battery dies? Just like with paper tickets, you're responsible for making sure you have a valid fare at all times, so be sure to plan ahead! IMPORTANT REMINDERS: • Activate your ticket when you see your bus or train approaching. Your ticket must be activated before boarding a vehicle. • Watch your battery level... Just like with paper tickets, you're responsible for making sure you have a valid fare at all times.

Permits for the Boundary Waters, Rocky Mountain National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains are gone within minutes of going on sale. The good news is that people cancel all the time, and those spots quietly reappear on recreation.gov. The bad news is that nobody tells you when. That's what PermitPulse is for. Pick the entry point or campsite you want and the dates you can go. PermitPulse checks recreation.gov every five minutes, around the clock, and the moment a permit opens up your phone buzzes. WHAT'S COVERED Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: overnight paddle, hike and motor entry points, plus day motor. Rocky Mountain National Park: wilderness camping permits, by camp area and group size. Great Smoky Mountains: backcountry campsites and trail shelters. HOW IT WORKS Choose a park, an entry point or starting area, and the dates you can go. PermitPulse starts watching. When something opens up you get a push notification and an email listing the dates that came free, and you book it on recreation.gov yourself. If a permit stays open, you'll get one reminder a day, so a trip you were still thinking over doesn't quietly slip past you. A FEW OTHER THINGS Dark mode, for the 5am checks from inside a tent. Push and email alerts can each be turned on or off, so you can have one without the other. For Rocky Mountain and the Smokies you can set your group size and pick specific campsites, or just watch a whole area at once. Your first watch is free. After that watches run on tokens: buy a small bundle once and spend them when you need to. Nothing renews and there's no subscription. PermitPulse isn't affiliated with recreation.gov, the Forest Service or the National Park Service, and it can't book anything for you. It watches so you don't have to, and tells you the moment there's something worth grabbing. Questions, bugs, or an entry point we're missing: permitpulseapp@gmail.com