CTrail eTix vs RIPTA Wave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CTrail eTix
Purchase mobile rail tickets for Hartford Line and Shore Line East customers directly from your smartphone. Avoid lines and cash transactions by buying daily parking and various ticket types, including monthly bus add-ons for CTtransit users.
- Purchase mobile rail tickets
- Buy daily parking
- Save tickets for later
- Receive email receipts
- Add CTtransit bus passes
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Traveling on CTrail just got easier! No more waiting in line to purchase a paper ticket, swiping your credit card, or carrying around cash. Connecticut DOT’s CTrail eTix app allows Hartford Line and Shore Line East customers to buy mobile rail tickets using their smartphone. Daily parking at Wallingford and Berlin stations is also available for purchase using CTrail eTix. With CTrail eTix, One-Way, Weekly, Monthly, and Ten-Trip mobile tickets are available for purchase. For customers that also use CTtransit, a CTtransit Monthly (Local) Bus add-on is available for purchase with your monthly rail ticket. Pay on the go, and use your mobile tickets immediately or save them for later. Keeping track of expenses is easy with CTrail eTix receipts provided via e-mail. Get started right away by downloading CTrail eTix and creating your account.
RIPTA Wave
Purchase and manage public transit fares directly from your smartphone. Load money onto your account and use your phone as your ticket to ride, with options for one-way, day, and monthly passes. Your fare balance is always accessible and transferable.
- Secure fare purchasing
- Smartphone as ticket
- Earn As You Go fare system
- Transferable fare balance
- One-way, Day, and Monthly passes
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With the new RIPTA Wave App, you can securely purchase RIPTA fares in seconds. Purchasing fares is easy: enter your payment card information, load money onto your Wave account, and your smartphone is your ticket to ride! RIPTA also offers one-way, Day and Monthly passes for use on all services. When ready to board the bus, open the app, and scan it under the validator. Never lose your fare product again! Once you load money into your Wave account, it will always be available to use. Need to replace your phone? No problem -- we can easily transfer your balance. Features: • Earn As You Go – You no longer have to purchase a Day Pass or Monthly Pass upfront. Each time you ride, gets you closer to earning a Day or Monthly Pass. • Secure ticket purchasing with your credit or debit card • Your smartphone is your ticket to ride • Never lose your fare – account balance and passes can be easily transferred if your phone is lost or stolen
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: CTrail eTix at free against RIPTA Wave's free with in-app purchases. RIPTA Wave's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 1.6 for CTrail eTix against 1.5 for RIPTA Wave. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 173 and 217 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 6% and 5% positive.
CTrail eTix ships an update every 6 months, RIPTA Wave every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CTrail eTix | RIPTA Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.6 (173 ratings) — better | 1.5 (217 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 6.0% of reviews — better | 5.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 173 | 217 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CTrail Connecticut Department of Transportation | Bytemark, Inc. |
Customer experience
CTrail eTix
RIPTA Wave
User reviews
CTrail eTix
From 173 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Functional for ticket purchase
- 👍 Easy to download
- 👍 Straightforward and accessible design (rare)
- 👍 Text is big and does the job (rare)
- 👍 Large buttons are useful (rare)
Room to improve
- 👎 Atrocious UI/UX
- 👎 Outdated interface/looks from another decade
- 👎 Unusable/broken app
- 👎 Impossible to create account
- 👎 Password reset issues
RIPTA Wave
From 217 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✅ Convenient contactless payment option
- 🎯 Ride-to-earn feature allows flexible payment
- 📱 No need to carry physical cards
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing interface design
- ⚙️ Auto-purchase functionality available
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 💸 Minimum $5-$6 charge requirement (fare is only $2)
- 🔐 Constant login and authentication issues
- 💰 Money disappears or fails to load on virtual cards
- ❌ QR code scanner doesn't work reliably
Bugs and requests
CTrail eTix
Reported bugs
35 issues- Cannot create an account
- Password reset functionality broken
- Email already in use error when creating account, but no account found for password reset
- App crashes frequently
- Purchased tickets disappear from the app
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- Login errors/connection errors
- App reverts to old keyboard and screen size
- Apple Pay not working reliably
- Time change detected errors when accessing tickets
- App closes when selecting a destination/station
- App immediately crashes after an update
- No confirmation email received
- Cannot log in
- App doesn't let me select a destination
- App doesn't work at all
- Tickets disappear multiple times
- App crashes on first install
- App requires camera access unnecessarily
- App doesn't load over HTTPS reliably
- Payment form hosted on a different service
- App doesn't support larger screens/newer phones
- App doesn't allow copy/paste of passwords
- App doesn't interact with password managers
- App crashes when trying to start
- App doesn't let me purchase a ticket
- App doesn't allow me to select a destination
- App closes out when entering a station
- App keeps crashing
- App is incredibly buggy
- App requires camera access to verify tickets
- App displays browser windows within itself
- App requires constant logging in
- App is formatted for much older phones and does not display correctly
- App keeps telling me to confirm email with no way to do so
- App lacks proper support for newer phones
Requested features
18 requests- Modernize the app's UI/UX
- Add train schedules to the app
- Improve password management (copy/paste, password managers)
- Add Apple Wallet support
- Add Dynamic Island support
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- Add Live Updates
- Allow round trip ticket purchases
- Add trip planning ability
- Improve payment options (Apple Pay, security)
- Add a way to confirm email
- Fix app crashing issues
- Coordinate with Amtrak and Metro North apps
- Add a schedule page
- Add a reservation system
- Increase time window for ticket confirmation
- Improve security of backend and payment forms
- Add Dark Mode option
- Add an interactive schedule like the website
RIPTA Wave
Reported bugs
16 issues- App crashes on startup and during payment
- QR code scanner fails to read barcodes
- Random logout without user action
- Payment verification fails despite successful charge
- Virtual cards created unexpectedly
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- Funds load to wrong virtual card
- Balance shows as zero despite loaded funds
- Day passes and transfers fail to register
- App freezes when attempting to sign in
- Card information cannot be edited
- API errors throughout application
- App doesn't open after updates
- Scanning issues on newer iPhone models
- Inaccessible funds after reinstalling app
- Monthly pass unlinks after app downtime
- Slow performance and connection issues
Requested features
11 requests- Integration with Apple Wallet and Apple Pay
- Support for Samsung devices
- One-way ticket option instead of only day/monthly passes
- Transfer pass availability in app (currently bus-only)
- Credit card payment option
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Ability to remove or consolidate virtual cards
- Web-based payment alternative when app fails
- Better scanning with brightness adjustment assistance
- Automatic physical card fallback for app failures
- Integration with existing Transit app instead of separate app
- Reduced minimum charge amount
In-app purchases
CTrail eTix
No in-app purchases
RIPTA Wave
No in-app purchases
