By Joseph Morales

The New York City Transit system is by far the largest transit system in the United States and one of the largest systems in the world. Overall, the MTA’s 331 bus routes and 22 subway routes serve millions of passengers daily. This system allows New Yorkers to get to many destinations seamlessly without the use of a car.

                 Sometimes however, the size of the system and the number of service options can make transit travel confusing especially on the subway. In addition, the need to switch trains quickly on subway and commuter rail platforms can make the system especially hard to navigate. This is why the MTA released the MyMTA app back in 2018 to provide travelers with directions as well as the real-time status of subway and bus lines. Unfortunately, the app was known for its cluttered interface and poor design, which earned it a poor 2.2 rating on the App Store. The app was also known for being complicated to use; a design critique from the Pratt Insitute stated, “instead of making things easier for the commuters, it poses as another process to learn.” This has led to people relying on other navigation tools such as Google Maps and the Transit App to plan their trips.

                       This is why the MTA has just released a new app to help address these issues. Rather than start on a cluttered home page, the new app starts by providing users with information about the buses/subways nearest their location along with arrival times. The tabs at the bottom allow users to plan trips, check the status of other routes, or select more options. Through the more options button, users can access information such as offline bus/subway maps and sign up for Access-A-Ride. The MTA also provides users with a wayfinding map of Grand Central Madison, which is essential given the labyrinth of a terminal the new East Side transit hub has become for some. Like the previous app, users could favorite transit routes to have faster access to information on those routes. The app is available on App Store or Google Play.

                   The app was built by app developer Axon Vibe. Axon Vibe is a global company headquartered in Switzerland whose mission is to make sustainable travel options more convenient. They do this by designing apps like the new MTA app to make it seamless for people to determine the fastest routes to get to their destinations via public transportation. The company, founded in 2014, includes over 100 employees, including software engineers, location analytics experts, and data scientists who work to make new navigation apps a reality. Their projects have included apps for transit agencies in both Japan and Germany, two countries known for high-quality mass transit.

               So, how does the app compare to other existing navigation options? I compared the new MTA app to three mapping apps that ranked higher than the previous MyMTA app on the App Store. These include the Transit App, CityMapper and Moovit. The best thing about those other three apps is that they can provide directions for longer transit trips that end outside of the NYC Metropolitan Area along with non-MTA travel modes including rideshare and CitiBike. The same cannot be said about the MTA app, which at most connects you with non-MTA public transportation options in the NY Metropolitan Area. For instance, the MTA app can provide instructions on how to get from Manhattan to Hoboken but not from Manhattan to Philadelphia. Also, the Transit App allows you to place a dot or swipe the map to a location to receive directions whereas the MTA App requires you to have an address or another indicator of where you’re going, such as a business name.

               While other apps do have small perks, the MTA app is the only one that allows you to receive complete and comprehensive information on NYC Transit, including service status, maps, and elevator outages. The MTA app is also free of ads and sets up routes in easier to understand ways. For instance, the MTA app provides a departure and arrival time for trips while the Transit app provides only provides bar graph unless you press the route you plan to take. 

                  In general, all of the navigation apps have their plus sides and their downsides. While the MTA app provides the best information on its own services, other transit apps provide users with more options, such as rideshare, to complete more trips. It is likely that some people will use the new MTA app while others will stick to other apps for the purposes of navigating NYC Transit. Overall, the primary lesson learned from the two-year MyMTA app debacle is that mobility apps must be simple to understand while still providing users with significant options to receive the information they value most. As technology evolves, companies will continue to grow while addressing flaws with their software both in and out of the transportation space. Hopefully, the MTA and other software companies learn from this experience and use the lessons learned to develop technology that benefits consumers in the long run.

Works Cited

Axon Vibe. Axon Vibe – Smart Mobility for Smart Cities, 2023, https://axonvibe.com/. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Brandon, Elissaveta M. “The MTA’s transit app was a nightmare to use. The new app promises to be better.” Fast Company, 16 August 2023, https://www.fastcompany.com/90938540/the-mtas-transit-app-was-a-nightmare-to-use-the-new-app-promises-to-be-better. Accessed 25 March 2024.

“Company — Axon Vibe – Smart Mobility for Smart Cities.” Axon Vibe, 2023, https://axonvibe.com/about-us. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Subway and bus ridership for 2022 – New York City Transit.” MTA, 2023, https://new.mta.info/agency/new-york-city-transit/subway-bus-ridership-2022. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Yadav, Sagar. “Design Critique: mYmta (iOS app) – IXD@Pratt.” IXD@Pratt, 7 February 2023, https://ixd.prattsi.org/2023/02/design-critique-mymta-ios-app/. Accessed 25 March 2024.