How to track departures on your transit line

⚠️ 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!

Public transit can sometimes be a guessing game. Can you trust that departure time? Will the bus show up? That’s why we’re here: open the app and you’ll see when the departure is in real-time, when you have to rely on the schedule, or even if your trip was cancelled.

Here's what this article covers:

Check real-time information on the main screen

You can check if a departure time in the app is real-time by looking for two pulsating waves next to the countdown.

If these waves aren't present, the times in the app will be greyed out to show the posted schedule, and won't reflect any delays or service changes.

To see additional upcoming departures, tap the line you’re interested in and swipe left through the ETA cards. You can also tap "More departures" to check the line’s complete schedule.

Transit also tracks the live locations of transit vehicles on the map. The top right corner of the vehicle icon will tell you if there are GO riders on board, or if not, the last time we got an update on that vehicle’s location.

Identify real-time, scheduled, and cancelled trips

Real-time

When you see real-time waves next to a departure and a bus or train icon on the map, that indicates that you’re looking at real-time information!

Scheduled

When the departure time is greyed out, that means we’re showing you the scheduled departure time. We know scheduled arrivals aren’t always accurate, which is why we display real-time information whenever it’s available.

Skipped

If the departure time is crossed through and marked "Skips this stop", it means the vehicle will not be stopping at your selected stop. You’ll have to go to a different stop to be picked up.

Cancelled

Sometimes trips are cancelled: a vehicle breaks down, or there isn’t a driver available. To let riders know about a cancellation, transit agencies can add this information to the app in real time. You’ll know a trip has been cancelled by your agency when the departure is crossed out and marked "Cancelled".

Likely cancelled

If a trip on your transit line is missing real-time information, we’ll analyze the data and determine if we think this scheduled trip has been cancelled. The trip will be crossed out and marked "Likely cancelled" to let you know we don’t think it’s coming.

Where real-time information comes from

Here's how real-time works:

  • Transit agencies use GPS trackers in their buses and trains to monitor the position of the vehicle.
  • Then, they use the vehicle location to calculate a more precise arrival time for your stop.
  • They send this new arrival time to us and we display it in the app!

Since real-time arrivals are based on the actual location of the vehicle, they'll change depending on whether it’s running early or late.

While we would love to provide perfect real-time information for all transit services, we don’t actually operate the transit system. But there are things that can help improve real-time information available in the app:

  • If your transit agency doesn’t have real-time information in the app, help out your fellow riders by tapping GO to crowdsource the real-time location of your vehicle.
  • We’re also working in dozens of cities to come up with our own real-time predictions that are better than what you’ll find in any other app. You’ll see a notice in the app if they’ve rolled out to your city!

Detours

In some areas, we’ve deployed a new feature that automatically detects bus detours and displays them in the app. No more missed buses because your stop has moved!

How it works

Planning a trip? We’ll factor any active detours into your trip plan. If your line has an active service alert with closed or relocated stops, you’ll see a warning icon next to its number on the main screen.

Tap your bus line: you’ll see the new detoured route and relocated stops on the map. The old route will be shown as a dashed line with the skipped stops x-ed out. Bus stops along a detour will be labelled "Temporary stop".

Note: Real-time departure estimates are not currently available at detoured stops. If real-time countdowns are available on your line, you will still be able to see them before and after the detoured portion of the line. We’re still developing the feature, so stay tuned for this and other improvements.

Spot a problem?

This feature is in beta, so there might be some kinks to work out. If there’s a detour we haven’t detected or if we’ve routed you the wrong way, let us know.

Keep in mind that automatic detour detection is not available in all supported regions.

You can help make this feature better by tapping the GO button every time you ride. GO crowdsources up-to-the-second bus locations for other riders, and helps our detour detector by providing even more precise off-track tracking.

Contact us about inaccurate information

If you've encountered inaccurate real-time or cancellation information in the app, please contact us to report the problem. Please include the following to help us troubleshoot the issue:

  • App screenshots
  • The date and time you encountered the problem
  • The transit line, direction, and stop name/location
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