NYC Bus Checker vs RealTime Transit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NYC Bus Checker
Get live bus times, plan journeys, and view route maps for all New York City buses. Access real-time updates on detours and cancellations, and save your favorite stops for quick access.
- Live bus times
- Smart journey planning
- Detailed route maps
- Real-time CitiBike dock info
- Detour and closure updates
- Favorite stops and routes
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NYC Bus Checker brings you live bus times, smart journey planning and detailed route maps for all of New York City. With official MTA-licensed data feeds, NYC Bus Checker has you covered, no matter where you need to go in New York. Main Features • Live times at all of New York’s 15,000+ bus stops • Plan a journey anywhere in NYC by bus, subway, rail and more • Explore route maps for all NYC Bus Routes - see exactly where your bus goes. • Get real-time CitiBike dock info • Be one step ahead with updates on detours, closures and cancellations • Save your favorite stops, routes and places for easy access Press • Featured on BBC Click, Telegraph Online, The Independent, Cosmopolitan and Wired UK • “If you regularly ride a bus, then you should not leave home without Bus Checker” - The Guardian ______________________________________________ Problems with the app? Please read through our FAQs at www.buschecker.com or tap the link from within the App to access our support portal ______________________________________________ Notes - Bus Checker is a registered trademark of UrbanThings Limited - Data provided by official MTA feeds
RealTime Transit
Get real-time arrival predictions for buses and subways. Quickly check your favorite transit station's status to see if you'll make your connection. Supports numerous transit agencies across North America.
- Real-time arrival predictions
- Supports multiple transit agencies
- Quick station status checks
- Extensive coverage in North America
- Updates on transit schedules
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Never miss your BART or bus again! Ever wondered if you're going to make it to your BART train? Or wished you could quickly check the next arrivals at your favorite BART or bus stop? This app makes it easy. Get arrival predictions and quickly check nearby or favorite stops across multiple transit agencies, all in one place. Currently supported agencies: * AC Transit — Alameda & Contra Costa Counties, California * BART — Bay Area, California * Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) — Chicago, Illinois * County Connection (CCTA) — Contra Costa County, California * EMBARK — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Fairfax Connector — Fairfax County, Virginia * MTA — New York, New York * Port Authority of Allegheny County — Pennsylvania * SFMTA — San Francisco, California * STM — Montréal, Canada * SolTrans — Solano County, California * VTA — Santa Clara County, California * Metro — Los Angeles, California And more agencies are coming soon! Give it a try and let me know what you think. Your feedback and suggestions help make the app better for everyone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NYC Bus Checker at 4.6 against RealTime Transit's 3.7. NYC Bus Checker also leads on ratings volume (3.1K vs 3). RealTime Transit's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads 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. NYC Bus Checker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RealTime Transit asks for nothing beyond the download.
NYC Bus Checker holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NYC Bus Checker has 3.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
NYC Bus Checker ships an update every 5 weeks, RealTime Transit every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NYC Bus Checker | RealTime Transit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (3.1K ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.1K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | UrbanThings Limited | Aidin Tajadod |
Customer experience
NYC Bus Checker
RealTime Transit
Bugs and requests
NYC Bus Checker
Reported bugs
3 issues- Buses disappearing from the app
- Scheduled times instead of real-time data
- Inconsistent or missing bus stop locations
Requested features
4 requests- Add VPN support
- Implement per-app font size control
- Introduce widget functionality
- Restore real-time bus countdown
RealTime Transit
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NYC Bus Checker
- Remove the Ads$8.99
RealTime Transit
No in-app purchases
