Transit Chi vs Metra Times
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Transit Chi
This app automatically tracks your public transit rides in Chicago. View nearby vehicles, monitor your journeys in real-time, and access a history of your past trips.
- Automated CTA tracking
- Real-time vehicle location
- Trip monitoring
- Save trip data
- Review past trips
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Transit Chi is a fully automated CTA tracker for Chicago. After registering for an account, users can find vehicles in their vicinity, track their rides, save trip data, and review past trips.
Metra Times
This app provides live departure times and real-time tracking for all Metra train lines in the Chicago region. It offers customizable boards, lock screen widgets, and Siri integration for easy access to your commute information.
- Live departure board for all Metra lines
- Real-time train tracking on Lock Screen
- Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
- Siri integration for train inquiries
- Customizable favorite routes
- Get-off alerts
- Dynamic Island support
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Metra Times is a fast, clean way to see when your next Metra train leaves: a live departure board for every Metra line in the Chicago region. Build a board around how you actually commute. Favorite the routes you ride and they're one tap away, with live status the moment you open the app. FEATURES • Live departure board for all Metra lines • Network map: see every Metra line and tap any station for live departures • Track a train and watch it on your Lock Screen. A Live Activity counts down to arrival and advances stop by stop as the train moves, even with your phone locked • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets: your next departures at a glance, even with no signal • Ask Siri for your next train, without opening the app • Favorite the trips you ride for a board that's all yours. Where two lines serve the same trip, you see both together • Full schedule browser: pick any line, station pair, and date • Real-time service alerts • Dynamic Island support • Choose your look: a clean classic board or a split-flap departure-board theme • Get-off alerts: be notified N stops before your destination, even when your phone is locked • Precise on-board tracking (optional): once you confirm you're riding, your phone's location makes get-off alerts more reliable and can detect boarding automatically PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No tracking. Your data stays on your device and isn't collected or shared. Metra Times is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Metra or the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad. Schedule and real-time information come from Metra's public data feeds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Transit Chi at 5.0 against Metra Times's 4.1. Transit Chi also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Metra Times's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (7 vs 2). 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.
Transit Chi holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 7 respectively.
Transit Chi ships an update every 10 months, Metra Times every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Transit Chi | Metra Times |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.1 (7 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christopher Mojekwu | Sean McCauley |
Customer experience
Transit Chi
Metra Times
In-app purchases
Transit Chi
No in-app purchases
Metra Times
No in-app purchases








