UI Ride vs MTD Access
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
UI Ride
This app provides an affordable and efficient shuttle service connecting Urbana-Champaign and Chicago. It's designed for University of Illinois System faculty, staff, and students to facilitate official business and research collaborations.
- Intercampus shuttle service
- Connects Urbana-Champaign and Chicago
- Affordable transportation
- Efficient and convenient
- For University of Illinois System members
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UI Ride is an intercampus shuttle service connecting Urbana-Champaign and Chicago to provide an affordable, efficient, and convenient mode of transportation for the University of Illinois System faculty, staff, and students to conduct official University of Illinois business as well as to encourage and facilitate research collaborations. The University of Illinois System’s UI Ride shuttle service is operated by Facilities & Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with Facilities Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
MTD Access
This service provides origin-to-destination transportation for individuals with disabilities who cannot use fixed-route buses. It operates within a limited distance of bus stops and offers features like vehicle tracking and trip management.
- Origin-to-destination service
- Wheelchair lift-equipped vans
- Assistance from operators
- Service within 0.75 miles of bus stops
- Update contact information
- Track approaching vehicles
- Review upcoming trip information
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MTD Access is a service provided by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District for passengers with disabilities who are unable to reasonably access the fixed-route bus service. Complementary paratransit is an origin-to-destination service operated in wheelchair lift-equipped vans. Operators of MTD Access are able to provide additional assistance to help passengers access the service. MTD Access is available within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed-route bus stop. Both the starting and ending points of a trip must be within that three-quarters of a mile. With MTD Access, passengers will be able to update their contact information, track their vehicle as it approaches, and review upcoming trip information. To sign up for MTD Access, visit mtd.org or call 217.384.8188 to get more information about the application process.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MTD Access at 5.0 against UI Ride's 3.2. MTD Access also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 8 months). UI Ride's advantage is monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.
MTD Access holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UI Ride has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
UI Ride ships an update every 8 months, MTD Access every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | UI Ride | MTD Access |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 134 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Illinois | Via Transportation, Inc. |
Customer experience
UI Ride
MTD Access
In-app purchases
UI Ride
No in-app purchases
MTD Access
No in-app purchases
