MBTA Schedule vs BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MBTA Schedule
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Key Features • Live departures for selected stops • Route and stop browsing with search • Favorites with quick refresh • Vehicle status and direction labels • Lightweight, fast, and easy to use Lite Version • Ad-supported • Designed for quick “open-and-check” commute use We’re continuously improving performance and usability for Boston-area riders.
BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker
This app provides real-time MBTA bus tracking, specifically designed to combat "ghost buses" that disappear from tracking. It shows if a bus is actually on the road, predicts the next confirmed bus, and displays live bus movements on a map.
- Ghost bus protection
- Next confirmed bus prediction
- Live bus tracking
- Departure track record
- Offline route and schedule access
- Real-time map view
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BusTracc is a bus-first app for the MBTA. It was built to fight ghost buses. GHOST BUS PROTECTION Every MBTA rider knows the ghost bus: the countdown that hits 0 and resets, the tracked bus that vanishes three stops away. BusTracc tells you the truth. Every departure shows whether a real bus is on the road for it. When one is not, you see it plainly — along with how often departures in that time window have ghosted over the last two weeks, from data we collect around the clock. THE NEXT CONFIRMED BUS When a departure looks like a ghost, BusTracc answers the question that actually matters: when is the next bus with a real vehicle behind it? One line: the time, the bus number, en route. AND IF A BUS VANISHES WHILE YOU WATCH BusTracc says so. No silent reshuffling, no pretending it never existed. You see what happened and what to do next. KNOW YOUR DEPARTURE'S TRACK RECORD BusTracc remembers how your exact scheduled departure has performed: how late it usually runs and how often it has been roughly on time. The difference between "2 minutes" and "2 minutes, but this one usually runs five late." LIVE MAP, INSTANTLY Open the app and see every bus and stop near you moving in real time, with heading and route at a glance. WORKS WHEN THE NETWORK DOES NOT Stops, routes, and schedules are bundled on-device, and live data degrades gracefully. You always see the best information available, never a blank screen. Built for Boston riders. Bus data from the MBTA live feed plus published performance history.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker at every 9 days against MBTA Schedule's monthly. BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). 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.
MBTA Schedule ships an update monthly, BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MBTA Schedule | BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 218 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Xiaohe Hu | Plarix |
In-app purchases
MBTA Schedule
No in-app purchases
BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MBTA Schedule free?
Is BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker free?
Do MBTA Schedule or BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker have ads?
Which is updated more often, MBTA Schedule or BusTracc MBTA Bus Tracker?
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