What is GO crowdsourcing?

⚠️ Note: this article has been revised to reflect Transit's latest update (Transit 6.0) which includes some major changes and new features. This update is being rolled out progressively and may not yet be available to all users. To check for updates:

iOS: open the App Store > scroll down to "Available Updates" > tap the "Update" button next to Transit.
Android: open the Google Play Store > tap your profile icon > select "Manage apps & device" > tap "See details under "Updates available" > tap "Update" next to Transit.

For an overview of what's new, check out our quick start guide for Transit 6.0!

GO crowdsourcing

When you use GO to guide you along your transit trip, you're also sharing the location of your vehicle with other Transit users to provide them with super-accurate, continuously-updated vehicle tracking information.

Crowdsourced vehicles are indicated on the map by an avatar on top of the vehicle.

In addition to providing improved vehicle tracking for other Transit users, riding with GO also helps generate more accurate arrival times for routes that are otherwise missing real-time information! Below is an example from the Vancouver Skytrain, which normally doesn’t have predicted arrival times. Luckily, the city’s many Transit app riders fill in the gaps by using GO.

Rate-My-Ride

When using GO, you can provide more than just better real time tracking data to other users using Rate-My-Ride! By answering a few short questions, you can help provide feedback on vehicle accessibility, crowding, timeliness, and overall ratings for your trip.

All this information is compiled and turned into indicators (displayed next to upcoming departures) or ratings that other riders can see. You can check this out by selecting a route from the main screen to see its details.

All Rate-My-Ride responses are anonymized, and they help your local transit agency know more about the quality of their services!

Follow-up questions

Transit also works with transit agencies to ask custom questions and follow-ups in Rate-My-Ride. Questions about safety, driver interactions, stop and vehicle cleanliness, speed and trip frequency provide your local agency with detailed feedback and data about how to directly improve service with rider input.

If your transit agency has follow-up questions activated, you may be asked to answer these kinds of additional questions.

You will always have the option to opt in to answer these follow-up questions, and opt out if you are no longer interested or able to answer them.

Manage your Rate-My-Ride notifications

Don’t want the extra notifications during your GO trips? You won’t get any Rate-My-Ride notifications if GO is minimized.

Don't want to answer the question? No problem! You can dismiss the question to snooze Rate-My-Ride for the rest of the day.

You can also turn Rate-My-Ride on or off in settings.

Tap the gear icon in the top left corner.
Scroll down and tap "Settings and accessibility".
Choose whether to turn Rate-My-Ride on or off.

Note: you will only see Rate-My-Ride questions about accessibility if you have "Show accessibility info" turned on in your settings. More info about our accessibility information.

Leaderboard

In the spirit of helping others out, we want you to know just how many people you're helping by using GO during your trip. The leaderboard shows off the top Transit users providing more accurate real-time tracking information to other riders by using GO.

Check out leaderboards for the month and for all time, and see how close you are to the #1 spot on your most-used line.

You can see your position in the leaderboard after tapping a specific transit route, while using GO, and in your profile.

From a specific route

To see the leaderboard for any line, select it in the list of the main screen then tap your avatar, at the top of the screen. This will take you directly to the leaderboard for that line!

When you’re in a GO trip

Tap the GO crowdsourcing indicator at the top of the screen to have quick access to your stats.
You can see your stats for this GO trip, as well a recap for the month.
Tap on the progress bar to access to the leaderboard and view all stats of the line.

From your profile

Tap on the gear icon at the top left of the main screen.
Scroll down to "Favorites" and tap "Transit lines".

You'll see a recap of your stats for the month. You can also tap "This month" to switch to your all time records. Tap on any lines you want to see in more details. To view all stats for a given line, tap "View leaderboard".

💁 Note: If you have toggled on ghost mode, others won't be able to see your nickname/avatar in the leaderboard.

How much battery and data does GO use?

While GO uses some battery, we’ve managed to keep it down to ~5% for an average 20-minute trip and that assumes you’re glued to your phone the entire ride. The same typical GO trip will take less than 100 kb of data. That’s more than a text message, but less than a kitten GIF.

What about my privacy?

Your exact position is never shared with other riders. The position of the vehicle is only shared while GO is active and you’re on board. All data you generate using GO is anonymous, and GO automatically turns off when you reach your destination. This also includes your answers to Rate-My-Ride questions: all of your answers are completely anonymous.