MyTransit NYC Subway & Bus MTA

Review by eFreeware

MyTransit NYC Subway & Bus MTA is a free transit app from the developer MyTransit, listed under Maps & Navigation and built around New York City's rail and bus networks. It has been on Google Play since February 2012 and has passed a million installs, with a 4.6 average from more than 36,000 ratings. The developer pitches it as the most accurate all-in-one MTA app, and the pitch rests on breadth: subway, bus, LIRR and Metro North in one place, with onward connections to NJ Transit, NYC Ferry and Amtrak.

The reason to consider it is straightforward. If you move around New York by more than one mode, or you switch between the subway and a commuter rail line depending on the day, an app that holds all of those networks together saves you from keeping a separate source for each one. That is the case MyTransit makes, and it is a reasonable one for residents and regular visitors alike.

Live times and the Times tab

Real-time arrivals and schedules are the core of the app. The developer says the arrival times are the most accurate you will find, and that claim covers the subway, city buses, Metro North and the LIRR. In practice, that means you can look up when the next train or bus is due rather than working from a printed timetable.

The Times tab is where this information is organized. It carries MTA TrainTime data alongside subway times and MTA Bus Time, so rail and bus departures sit in the same place rather than in separate screens. You can also set favorites for the lines and stops you use most, which is the sensible way to handle a network this large: the lines you care about stay within reach, and you are not searching for the same stop every morning.

Alongside the arrival times, the app tracks live status for the subway, buses, LIRR and Metro North. Delays, service changes and alerts are shown as they affect the network, which matters in a system where a single incident can ripple across several lines. Knowing that a line is disrupted before you leave is often more useful than knowing exactly when the next train arrives.

Alerts that reach you before you travel

Notifications extend the status information beyond the app itself. You can receive alerts about delays and changes on the subway, bus, LIRR and Metro North, plus safety alerts in the area around you. For anyone with a fixed commute, that is the feature that earns the install: the phone tells you something has gone wrong before you are standing on a platform.

The developer frames this as staying informed about disruptions before your commute, and the framing is fair. A transit app that only answers questions you remember to ask is less useful than one that volunteers the information. How much you get out of the alerts depends on how you configure them, but the mechanism is there for every network the app covers.

Maps for every mode, including the awkward connections

The map collection is unusually complete. It includes official transit and MTA maps covering the subway, buses, NYC Ferry, LIRR, Metro North and NJ Transit. For the subway alone there are day and night versions, a map marking accessible stations, and a winter weather version, in both geographic and diagram styles. That range is more than most riders will ever open, but the accessible and night versions answer specific questions that a single standard map cannot.

Bus maps are split across all five boroughs, with Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island each getting its own hi-res version. Each one shows transfers to the subway and to NYC Ferry, and the bus maps also mark connections to JFK and LaGuardia. The rail map covers LIRR and Metro North lines, major hubs such as Grand Central and Penn Station, and links to NJ Transit, NJ Path, Amtrak, AirTrain JFK and the airports.

What I like about this section is that it treats the seams between networks as part of the job. Most trips in and around New York involve at least one transfer between operators, and maps that show those handoffs are more useful than maps that stop at the edge of a single agency.

Directions and the trip planner

Directions are written to be followed as you travel rather than studied in advance, which suits the way most people actually move through the city: one leg at a time, checking the next step as they go.

Between the planner, the arrival times and the maps, the app covers the three questions a rider tends to ask: which way do I go, when does it leave, and what is happening on the line right now. That combination is what the all-in-one label is meant to describe, and it applies across every mode the app lists.

What the app asks of you

MyTransit is free to download and supported by advertising, and it also offers in-app purchases. The app is rated for Everyone and carries no age-related caveats.

Nothing here requires a card to get started. The practical requirement is simply that you are traveling in or through the New York area, since every feature is tied to the MTA network and its connections. The app was last updated on September 28, 2026, with the notes mentioning refreshed subway and bus times, updated Metro North and LIRR schedules, and the latest bus and subway maps, so the data behind it is being maintained.

Getting the most from it

The Times tab is built around favorites, and a network this size is much easier to read once your own corners of it are pinned. If you commute on a commuter rail line and finish your journey on the subway, adding both to favorites keeps the whole trip in view.

Second, turn on the alerts and let them do their work. Delays, service changes and safety notifications are the part of the app that acts on your behalf, and they are most valuable when you have not thought to check anything. Third, keep the map you actually need rather than browsing the whole collection: the accessible-station version if step-free access matters for your trip, the night map if you are traveling late, and the borough bus map for the part of the city you are in.

For visitors, the trip planner and the airport connections are the parts to lean on. The rail map ties LIRR and Metro North to AirTrain JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Amtrak corridors, which is the kind of information that is genuinely hard to assemble from scratch when you do not know the city. The app has been featured on PIX11 News and amNewYork, which fits a tool aimed at a local audience.

A dependable companion for New York riders

The developer's accuracy claim is the kind of thing you can only judge against your own experience of the network, but the feature set behind it is broad and specific.

It suits people who live in or regularly travel through New York and want one place to check times, disruptions and directions rather than juggling several sources. It also works for visitors who need to connect a flight, a commuter rail line and the subway without prior knowledge of the system. The ads and the in-app purchases are the trade-offs to accept going in, and the app's focus on one metropolitan area is simply what it is built for.

If your travel is concentrated in New York and you value having the whole network, including its awkward edges, in a single app, this is an easy one to try. The install cost is nothing, and the map and alert coverage is the part that sets it apart from a bare arrival-time lookup.

What's new in version 3.17.0

✨ NYC Subway train time and MTA bus time updates, plus latest Metro North and LIRR Long Island Railroad schedules. ✅ Latest NYC Bus and MTA Subway maps. ℹ️ Additional app and UI improvements. 👍 Thanks for using MyTransit, New York's Most Accurate & Reliable NYC Transit MTA App! 📩 For app support, feedback, or questions, email us at [email protected]