OneBusAway vs Seattle Light Rail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OneBusAway
Get real-time transit information for multiple regions, including Puget Sound. Plan your trips, receive departure alerts, and view live arrival times. Easily find nearby stops and save your favorite routes for quick access.
- Real-time arrival information
- Trip planning
- Departure alerts
- Map display of stops and routes
- Nearby stops search
- Favorite routes widget
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When's my bus? OneBusAway answers that question in real time, at every stop, across your whole region. Now with Live Activities: start tracking a ride and watch it approach from your Lock Screen, without opening the app. Free, open source, and built by a nonprofit in partnership with your transit agency. WHAT'S NEW - Live Activities — follow your bus, train, or ferry from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. - A redesigned stop view that opens right from the map, putting real-time arrivals one tap away. FEATURES - Real-time arrivals wherever your agency provides them. - Departure alarms that nudge you before your ride pulls away. - Trip planning with door-to-door directions across every agency in your region. - See where your vehicle actually is on the map — buses, trains, ferries, streetcars, even funiculars. - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for the routes you check most. - Bookmarks and recent stops, so your daily commute is always a tap away. - Nearby stops found automatically, or search by route, address, or stop number. - Service alerts from your agency, right where you need them. WHERE ONEBUSAWAY WORKS - Davis, CA - New York, NY - San Diego, CA - Seattle / Tacoma / Puget Sound, WA - Tampa, FL - Washington, D.C. - Adelaide, Australia ABOUT OneBusAway is free and open source, maintained by transit riders and researchers since 2008. There are no ads and no account to create. The app is published by the Open Transit Software Foundation, an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has earned Silver Transparency status on Candid. Questions, feedback, or support: https://onebusaway.org/ OTSF on Candid: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-1786969
Seattle Light Rail
Plan trips, view live arrivals, and find station details for light rail and regional transit. Get real-time alerts and helpful boarding information. Supports multiple languages and offers offline functionality.
- Offline trip planning
- Live arrival times
- Disruption alerts
- Station facility information
- Boarding advice
- Saved trips
- Apple Watch app
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Plan your Link light rail trip, check live arrivals and service alerts, and find the best car to board for your exit. Explore station entrances, facilities, and step-free access information. Save your regular trips, receive optional disruption alerts, and follow stop-by-stop guidance with Trip Companion. Widgets, Live Activities, and Apple Watch keep useful trip information close at hand. Core rail planning works offline with a bundled timetable. Live information requires an internet connection. Available in 22 languages. No account required. No advertising, analytics, or tracking SDKs. Seattle Light Rail is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by Sound Transit or any other transit agency. Link, ORCA, and related marks belong to their respective owners.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Seattle Light Rail at 100% against OneBusAway's 58%. Seattle Light Rail also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). OneBusAway's advantage is ratings volume (2.1K vs 3) and chart position (#150 vs unranked). 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.
Seattle Light Rail holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OneBusAway has 2.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of OneBusAway's written reviews are positive against 100% of Seattle Light Rail's.
OneBusAway ships an update every 2 months, Seattle Light Rail every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OneBusAway | Seattle Light Rail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.1K ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #150 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Open Transit Software Foundation | Adam Aarniokoski |
Customer experience
OneBusAway
Seattle Light Rail
Bugs and requests
OneBusAway
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashing when searching for routes
- Bus stops not showing on map
- Notifications not working
- Inconsistent data between stops
Requested features
4 requests- Live bus tracking on map
- Ability to report issues with bus arrivals
- Apple Watch support
- More customization options
Seattle Light Rail
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
OneBusAway
No in-app purchases
Seattle Light Rail
No in-app purchases
