Comparison

GT Buses vs Cool Routes

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

GT Buses

Track the real-time location and arrival predictions for campus shuttle buses. Get instant notifications for delays and closures, and easily find nearby stops or favorite your most used ones. Set reminders to ensure you never miss your ride.

Highlights
  • Live bus tracking map
  • Real-time arrival predictions
  • Push notifications for alerts
  • Campus building search
  • Favorite stops
  • Nearby stops identification
  • Bus ride reminders
Features
Read full description

View up-to-date locations and time predictions for Georgia Tech Stinger buses and Tech Trolley. LIVE MAP Get up-to-date bus positions showing exactly where each bus is along its route. PUSH NOTIFICATIONS Get real-time updates regarding delays, closures, and other important messages. CAMPUS SEARCH Search for campus buildings and view their footprints on the map. FAVORITE STOPS Add stops you use often to your Favorites for quick, easy access. NEARBY STOPS See stops nearest to your current location, as well as how far they are. SET REMINDERS Easily set reminder notifications so you don't forget to catch your bus when it arrives. NOTIFICATION CENTER WIDGETS 2 Notification Center widgets for easy access to time predictions for nearby stops as well as your favorites. APPLE WATCH + IPAD Optimized for iOS 17, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. If you run into any issues or have any feedback, use the in-app Support button or email support@iminichrispy.com. You can also tweet me @iMinichrispy.

About

Cool Routes

This navigation app prioritizes user comfort and environmental factors like shade and greenery in its routing. It helps pedestrians and cyclists find cooler, more pleasant paths without significant detours, contributing to safety and well-being.

Highlights
  • Climate-aware routing
  • Thermal comfort optimization
  • Greenery and shade indices
  • Reduced heat exposure
  • Pedestrian and cyclist safety
  • No unreasonable detours
Features
Read full description

'Cool Routes' is a routing system that incorporates indices representing vegetation and perceived heat (thermal comfort) into navigation for people walking, biking, and rolling. Our generated routes demonstrate that users can reduce heat exposure and experience more greenery and shade without having to undertake unreasonable detours, demonstrating the potential of climate-aware navigation recommendation tools to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and comfort. This project is part of the broader NO-HEAT Initiative through which we are working to better understand extreme heat exposure and exploring heat mitigation interventions for people walking, biking, and rolling. NO-HEAT Initiative: https://resilience.research.gatech.edu/feature/no-heat-initiative-tackles-climate-inequity-one-street-time

Screenshots

GT Buses4 screens
Cool Routes3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Cool Routes at 5.0 against GT Buses's 4.4. Cool Routes also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). GT Buses's advantage is ratings volume (226 vs 4) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GT Buses sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Cool Routes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cool Routes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GT Buses has 226 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of GT Buses's written reviews are positive against 100% of Cool Routes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GT Buses ships an update every 4 months, Cool Routes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
GT Buses versus Cool Routes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGT BusesCool Routes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (226 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings226 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlex PerezRounaq Basu

Customer experience

GT Buses

All ratings214 ratings
Positive82.2%
Neutral5.6%
Negative12.1%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive79.6%
Neutral4.1%
Negative16.3%

Cool Routes

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

GT Buses

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Bus locations not always updated
  • App zooms out when walking
  • Route names not fully visible
  • Time estimates are frequently wrong
  • Buses randomly stop for extended periods
Show 5 more
  • Second biggest route not displayed
  • App takes a while to load
  • GPS not turned on by drivers
  • App zooms out when moving
  • Route names are not legible

Requested features

6 requests
  • Update bus routes regularly
  • Add grocery shuttle tracking
  • Option to purchase ad-free version
  • Alert when bus is 2 minutes away
  • Feature to type destination for closest stop
Show 1 more
  • Add newer routes each semester

Cool Routes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

GT Buses

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99
None

Cool Routes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GT Buses free?
GT Buses is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cool Routes free?
Cool Routes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, GT Buses or Cool Routes?
Cool Routes is rated higher. GT Buses averages 4.4 out of 5 from 226 ratings, while Cool Routes averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do GT Buses or Cool Routes have ads?
GT Buses shows ads; Cool Routes does not.
Which is updated more often, GT Buses or Cool Routes?
GT Buses ships an update every 4 months, and Cool Routes every 2 weeks. Most recently, GT Buses was updated on October 23, 2026 and Cool Routes on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons