Better time predictions made for smoother trips, less waiting between transfers and fewer missed connections. It had the best time predictions for bus and train arrivals, working equally well in the East Bay with AC Transit buses and BART, in San Francisco with MUNI, and in the South Bay with SamTrans and the VTA. The apps will show you multiple options for the best route, and some will offer cost and time comparisons for hailing an Uber or Lyft, or hopping on a shared bike or scooter. Select the time you want to go, whether that’s right away, leaving at a certain time or arriving by a particular time. Enter your start point, or “my location,” and your destination. How it works: All of the following trip-planning apps work in essentially the same way. We field-tested the apps below for accuracy and overall ease of use. So, if you have an app you especially love, drop a link in the comments section of this article with your take on how well it works. There are far too many to include in this roundup. Some include mobile payments others are strictly for trip planning. Until then, there are dozens of apps out there to help ease your commute. And, adding private companies, such as Lyft or shared scooters, may be even further out. But, the two functions - planning your trip and paying for it - won’t be completely integrated until that app gets further upgrades in 2021 or beyond. The same app would have a trip-planning tool, said John Goodwin, an agency spokesman.

It expects to debut an app for mobile Clipper card payments in 2020 that would essentially replace the physical card. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the region’s transportation planning agency, is working on something similar. We’re still waiting for the Holy Grail of apps: one that would allow you to plan your entire trip - including buses, trains, ferries, Ubers, Lyfts, shared scooters and bikes - and pay for it, all in one click.

Some transit apps were developed by private companies, others by the transit agencies themselves.

Bart real time trip planner