Readers of a certain age will remember the horror of struggling with paper maps – or, worse yet, trying to decipher the intricacies of a rural bus timetable on a rainy afternoon. Thankfully, things are a little better these days – and with little more than the smartphone in your pocket, you needn’t have any trouble getting around.
In fact, if anything there’s too much choice out there. Whether you’re hoping to beat the worst of the traffic jams in your city or plot the most efficient route on public transport, there are all manner of apps promising to make your journey smoother.
As a bit of a transportation geek, I’ve taken it upon myself to try out a few of the best – so sit back, fasten your seatbelt and gear up for our pick of the very best transportation apps!
Google Maps
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Google Maps has been around for a while now – in fact, it celebrated its tenth birthday on the 8th of February! But what started life as a diverting desktop alternative to using paper maps at home is now a sleek, polished and ever-expanding transportation toolkit.
Its public transportation options aren’t the very best – but if you drop a pin in the map and hit the ‘train’ icon, it’ll do its best to plot a route for you using an admirably thorough database of metro, bus and National Rail routes.
Where it really shines, though, is for drivers. As Agent Strevens recently discovered, Google Maps is now sophisticated enough that it can more or less replace standalone satnav units.
The turn-by-turn navigation is certainly among the best you’ll find, and the fact that it’s now available offline is particularly useful if you’ll be driving through rural areas with patchy network coverage. But what’s really impressive about Google Maps is how it helps you deal with traffic.
Google collects anonymised data from the thousands of drivers using its services, which allows it to work out where congestion is heaviest based on the number of Maps users and their rate of progress through the road network.
When you plot a route using the app, this is all handily relayed to you through a simple colour-coded system: the redder the road, the slower the progress. To top things off, it’ll also suggest alternative routes – and tell you what effect they’ll have on your journey time.
In short, if you haven’t taken Google Maps for a drive recently, we highly recommend you give it a shot – it might just surprise you.
Citymapper
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I have to admit, I’m a little bit biased here: I’ve used Citymapper for years. I use it pretty much every single day. And sometimes, just for fun, I use it to plot purely hypothetical routes which I have no intention of actually travelling.
In other words, I love it. But what’s so good about it?
Well, simply put, Citymapper is the Swiss Army Knife of car-free urban navigation. Whether you’re walking, taking a taxi or using public transportation, Citymapper will help you get there. Just type in your destination or drop a pin on the map, and it’ll tell you exactly how to get there – and how long you can expect it to take.
In particular, its mastery of public transport is second to none. Where I live in London, it handles the Tube and bus routes with ease – offering live departure and arrival times, as well as delivering smart notifications if one of your usual routes is out of action during your commute.
And in fact, it goes much deeper: it also covers cycle hire, ferries, trams – and even ‘the future’, letting you know how you’ll be able to complete a certain route once Crossrail opens in 2018. If public transport isn’t your bag, it’ll also allow you to plan a route by cab or Uber, along with estimated fares and the ability to summon the latter directly from the app.
As you’ve probably gathered, for me personally, Citymapper is pretty much perfect. But there’s one big catch: for the vast majority of people in the UK, it’s going to be practically useless!
When it launched in the UK, Citymapper only covered London. These days, it also handles Manchester and Birmingham – but if you live outside one of those metropolises, it’s not going to do you any good at all.
The developers do allow users to vote on the next city to be added – but if you live in, say, my hometown of Peterborough, I wouldn’t hold your breath. That said, if you’re just visiting one of these major cities, there’s no better way to get around!
Moovit
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Get it for Windows Phone
Moovit is something of a new kid on the block on the transport app scene – and despite my avowed love of Citymapper, I’ve spent a few days putting it through its paces.
In terms of features, it’s not too different to its more established competitor: it focuses solely on car-free modes of transport, and features all the major bus lines and train routes. For some inexplicable reason, though, it doesn’t offer walking routes, which seems a bit of a shame.
The problem is, as someone who lives in a Citymapper city, there’s really no compelling reason to choose Moovit. The interface is less clear, and it goes out of its way to suggest Ubers with an obtrusive button superimposed over the map on the app’s front page – in fact, I accidentally pressed this a couple of times while simply trying to plan a route. I suspect this is a rather ham-fisted attempt at monetisation – and it does suggest that the developers prioritise their bottom line over creating an app that works for users.
Given all that, why does Moovit still have a place on this list? Well, the simple fact is that it’s available in a far greater number of places than Citymapper, with a presence in 55 countries and 600 different cities. If you’re in Yorkshire, say, Citymapper’s no good to you at all – but Moovit might just have your local bus routes covered.
It also allows users to report issues with certain routes, presenting crowdsourced alerts and updates – which sounds promising, but in practice didn’t really come up for me in my time with the app.
Finally, unlike Citymapper and Google Maps, there's a version for Windows Phone Users!
While it’s not my first choice for public transport, for many users Moovit is going to be the best option – so it’s definitely worth taking a look.
Waze
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Get it for Windows Phone
After a couple of car-free picks, Waze brings us, tires squealing, directly back to the world of motorised transport.
If Citymapper takes Google Maps’ public transport functionality and simply makes it better, Waze aims to do the same for its driving navigation. To that end, it goes into much more detail than Maps concerning the trials and obstacles you might encounter on your journey.
Indeed, the app’s website states that “traffic is more than just red lines on the map” – which seems a rather pointed dig at Google’s already-impressive offering. Waze promises to let users know about accidents, road hazards and even police patrols on their route – although it goes without saying that you shouldn’t be breaking the law on your journey! This information is directly sourced from users – who can also alert the developers to inaccurate maps, and even suggest the best (and cheapest) places to fill up with petrol on your route.
For that reason, if you’re after an app that’s just for driving, Waze is the one to go for – although the usefulness of the crowdsourced data will, of course, depend on how many people are using the app in your local area.
Uber
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Get it for Android
Get it for Windows Phone
Finally, if all else fails, try Uber. The innovative ride-sharing app is not without its controversies, but if you need to get from A to B in a hurry, and neither driving nor public transportation are options, Uber is always there for you – if it’s available where you live.
In case you're not aware, Uber is Silicon Valley's answer to the taxicab. Just set your location and destination, and in matter of minutes (usually), a clean (usually), well-appointed (usually) car will be there to pick you up.
My experience with the service has been generally good – although one driver at Halloween turned up smoking a cigarette, which was a little off-putting! On the whole, though, the drivers are extremely helpful – one UberXL driver in particular even helped me move house recently, and all with a Whitney Houston soundtrack!
Right now, Uber is available in most of the larger UK cities – including Belfast, Leeds, Merseyside and Glasgow – and the company’s continuing success and growing recognition among the public mean it’s sure to keep expanding.
The app itself is simple to use and constantly updated – and, of course, you’ll need it installed to take advantage of the Uber integration in the other apps on this list!
This selection of apps should have you on the move – but if there’s anything we’ve missed, or you just want to share your own tips for getting around, let us know in the comments below!