Valley Metro vs CG LINK
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Valley Metro
Plan your transit journeys in metro Phoenix with real-time bus and light rail tracking. Easily manage fares, earn savings with Smart Fare, and receive service alerts for a seamless travel experience.
- Smart Fare payment and savings
- Step-by-step trip planning
- Real-time bus and light rail location
- Service alerts and notifications
- Save favorite stops and routes
- Account loading and transaction history
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The Valley Metro app is your tool for taking transit in the metro Phoenix area. Smart Fare makes taking transit even easier – load your account, scan every time you ride and the more you ride, the more you save! You’ll never pay more than the Smart Fare daily, weekly and monthly fare. Trip planning helps you get where you want to go with step-by-step navigation and real-time location for bus and light rail. Features: - Load your account and scan the QR code at the purple fare reader - View your transaction history - Set up autoload or load your account with cash at select retail locations - Plan your trip with step-by-step navigation - Locate your bus or train in real time - Save your favorite stops and routes - Get service alerts and account notifications
CG LINK
This app offers on-demand public transit within a designated service area. Schedule, modify, or cancel rides with ease, and receive real-time notifications about your vehicle's arrival. Enjoy convenient curb-to-curb pickup and delivery for your daily commute.
- Schedule, change, and cancel trips
- Real-time vehicle arrival notifications
- Curb-to-curb pickup and delivery
- Virtual bus stop locations
- Accessible and climate-controlled vehicles
- Bike racks available
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CG LINK provides safe, convenient, and reliable On-Demand general public transit service. CG LINK operates Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 7:00pm. Trips must begin and end within the Service Area. CG LINK is a shared ride service, and all trips must be scheduled in advance and any trip purpose is accepted. Vehicles provide curb-to-curb pickup and delivery. Virtual Bus Stops are located at the Promenade Mall. The CG LINK Rider App allows riders to schedule, change, and cancel trips. Text notifications will alert riders when their vehicle is 5-minutes away and when the vehicle has arrived. Text notifications will also alert riders with the driver’s first name and vehicle ID number. Riders may call Dispatch to schedule, change, or cancel trips. Text notifications will be sent when scheduling by phone. The fare is free for all until April 19, 2024. Thereafter the regular adult fare is $1.50 per one-way trip. The reduced fare is $1.25 per one-way trip (Seniors 60+, disabled persons, and Youth ages 6 to 15). Children 5 and younger ride free with a paying adult. Riders may pay their fare with exact cash only when they board. Vehicles are accessible, climate controlled and have bike racks
Screenshots
Verdict
Valley Metro and CG LINK both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of CG LINK's written reviews are positive against 25% of Valley Metro's. CG LINK also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months) and device support (3 vs 1). Valley Metro's advantage is ratings volume (10K vs 14). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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 — 4.7 for Valley Metro against 4.7 for CG LINK. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Valley Metro has 10K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 25% of Valley Metro's written reviews are positive against 100% of CG LINK's.
Valley Metro ships an update every 4 months, CG LINK every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Valley Metro | CG LINK |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (10K ratings) — better | 4.7 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 25.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 146 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | REGIONAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY | RideCo Inc. |
Customer experience
Valley Metro
CG LINK
Bugs and requests
Valley Metro
Reported bugs
4 issues- Brightness glitches
- Login/authentication issues
- Disappearing bus locations
- Unreliable schedule updates
Requested features
4 requests- Add monthly/weekly pass options
- Integrate with Apple Wallet
- Improve real-time tracking accuracy
- Provide more fare payment options
CG LINK
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Valley Metro
No in-app purchases
CG LINK
No in-app purchases
