NYC Subway Mobile Apps

I am always on the lookout for a good app for my android. I think NYers are obsessed with various aspects of taking the public transportation system. From running down the stairs right when the train arrives, to being at the right door to exit closest to the stairs, to being at the exit staircase to come out closest to our ultimate destination, we go out of our way to figure out all these aspects of our daily commute.



Today I ran across the results of the MTA App Quest competition. I have not tried out most of the apps since some of them are for specific systems like Metro-North while others are for specific platforms like Windows Mobile 7. However, I did install the winning app by Embark NYC available for both Android and iOS.  My initial reaction is "impressive." The app has various features from location based search, auto picking the closest station, planning a route with origin and destination address, and arrival times for trains at a particular station. Here is their promotional video:

I have used various apps in the past for my android phone. NYC Mate was a good app which showed next arriving train times alongside the subway map, even without service. However, this app has since been defunct with no times showing.

The other app that I have been using is SchedNYC that is quite robust. The app has the NYC subway system, Staten Island express bus timings, some Queens and Brooklyn express bus timings, PATH system, and Long Island bus system. MTA recently activated gps on their buses to get an accurate location to the customers of each bus. The developers of this app immediately incorporated that feature into their app and now you can easily view the live bus locations from within the app. You can also set subway stations as favorites so you can quickly access the times at your most frequented stations. The app also informs you of subway and bus system delays and any elevator and escalator outages.

Overall, I am very happy with SchedNYC (only available for Android I believe). I installed the Embark app as well and will be giving it a try over the next few weeks to see if I will keep it on my phone. Hope this helps all the straphangers out there who are clamoring for that particular door at the correct end of the train that will get them to the closest staircase to the closest exit from the station to their ultimate destination.