As a daily TriMet commuter, I rely heavily on this app. The features are easy to access once you learn your way around, and the data is completely reliable. Can’t believe the developer created this for free; it’s brilliant! Unfortunately I haven’t been able to use it for a few weeks, and have been trying to reach the developer for help. Just bought a new iPhone 11 thinking the problem was my old phone, but still can’t get the app to work. The TriMet website is horrible to use (they don’t even have an app for tracking/trip planner) and I can’t wait to be able to use this is a app again. The other available TriMet apps are disappointing, too - don’t bother!

9 months ago, roxadoll

A must-have app for regular Trimet riders

I’ve been using this app for over 10 years, and while there may be glitches from time to time (like there is with every other app I’ve ever used), it has been one of my most used and needed apps. For some reason I’m not aware of, Trimet has not developed their own app. For a city that relies so heavily on public transit this seems ridiculous to me so I very much appreciate that the developer has created and maintained this app for so long as a volunteer. I find the current Trimet website to be annoying to navigate except for looking up the standard schedules. Also, the majority of the low ratings on here either make no sense to me (the app is perfectly easy to navigate if you’re at all iPhone literate), or it’s clear people did not read the details about the app and want to complain about Trimet. To those people, take the time to read before you post an inaccurate review—this is a free service generated from Trimet’s online data and the app is not responsible for your complaints about Trimet. Kudos to the developer for doing this for so long and helping many Trimet riders.

6 years ago, GoByTransit

Great features but...

I love PDX bus. I've been using it for almost 5 years, it's amazing! Although I like these, it is lacking just one or two features I want. Although it includes the trip ID (or block), it does not include vehicle numbers, which would seem like a easy feature to implement, would help me out so much!! I like seeing what vehicle type I ride, because they all are slightly different) I hope that your able to implement it (because the current way to access vehicle numbers are very hard to find), but again, very easy to implement. Thanks!

4 years ago, Bummer Toons

Vastly Improved App

The app is much better than it used to be. I use it daily to identify where and when the nearest MAX train will arrive and whether there are any delays. The only issue I see is sometimes the app will show a train is coming or due, and no train comes. All if the busses and trains have GPS, and it seems odd that the app would not have 100% accurate location data. Having said that, this seems to happen very rarely. One feature I would like to see is the ability to set custom alerts, e.g. notify me 10 minutes before the next red line train is due to arrive at X station.

6 years ago, Sillygrrrl

Great App with Hidden Features

I use this app multiple times each day during the work week. I really liked the flashing light to alert bus drivers during the winter time but it seemed to have disappeared. I read some reviews today and the latest app description and realized that it wasn't gone but just "hidden" in the optional settings that I never thought to review! I also found the ability to bookmark my stops which is very handy since I previously had a note on my phone with all my favorite stop ID's. I really do find the app to be helpful and pretty accurate.

1 year ago, landonewts

Has all the information, but the UI is dense

This app technically has all the information you need to plan your trip around the city using public transportation. However, when you’re outside at a bus stop or Max stop trying to figure out how to get from point a to point B sort of on time, the interface is cluttered and needlessly complicated, especially on a small phone screen. I would like to be able to pick the starting point and a destination and get all the potential routes in a format that’s easier to read and navigate on the go. This app is a neat miss for me.

2 years ago, jbucky1

strong on wi fi

this app has a very complex interface; however once you learn it is very powerful. You can tell there has been a lot of thought gone into this app. The app works vey well when connected to wi fi, however I found it spotty to use even with a strong 4G signal. If it’s reliability on cell signal could be tweaked to be more reliable then I would give it 5 stars.

3 years ago, Courtnobs

Real-time is lagging.

This app hasn’t been updated in a month and, after the new IOS update, it’d be nice to have an updated version. It lags when I try to look at a specific bus’ real time location and has now been saying that the bus I’d been waiting for hasn’t been located in 3 minutes and it just showed up a minute early. I know it’s not the biggest deal but when it takes 3 minutes to locate a bus that does indeed have real time on, it gets a bit frustrating. Just don’t want anyone missing their bus because it came early and they didn’t know because the app is lagging.

4 years ago, ednwvf

Bestows transit superpowers

PDX Bus turns regular bus riders into bus whisperers. It pulls up my morning and evening commute options automatically, and I can easily see my fastest route home from anywhere. It shows alerts, delays and buses that might be no-shows, so nothing’s left to chance. I just noticed that you can refresh arrival times by shaking the phone, a real mittens season game changer, and I had to finally leave a review. It’s years overdue.

6 years ago, KYouell

Excellent

We bike most places but when the weather is foul we use TriMet. I'm thankful for many features in this app, especially the ability to set an alert when your bus is getting close and to set a color for a bus so you can track it in the app once you're on board. Both features calm down my kids (and me) so the "is it almost here" and "are we there yet" questions are easier to answer.

6 years ago, Littlest Finch

Good stuff

Update 8/8 I use this every single day to get home it's been accurate about 95% of the time. I love it. I have my work saved as a trip and I love it's easy to just locate transit near by. Good stuff. Sorry about the outage thanks for the response, devs. -Original This is my usual everyday, go to, transit app. Since update it won't open maps, load trips, or find nearby transport on or off wifi.

6 years ago, CStrong

Times not accurate

Used this app for the first time after a high recommendation from my son who uses it daily. While the route is correct, the bus left four minutes early, as I was a block away. I went to check the app again and it said the bus was arriving in four minutes. Now standing in the cold for 20 minutes on Sandy. I’d be less upset if there had been a notification saying that the bus schedule was the source of the arrival times, not live tracking as I’d assumed.

5 years ago, AlexanderWillow

Frequent bus user

As TriMet is my only mode of transportation I have 2 use this app everyday. It works fantastic I’ve never had a problem with it. It always updates quick with location data & reroutes. The only thing I wish was different was that the maps & schedules were in the app & it didn’t have 2 take U 2 the website 2 access them.

5 years ago, ZSS Enterprise

Mostly really good

I am only writing this to report a bug, since there doesn’t seem to be any other way to do so. Lately, when trying to set an arrival alarm, I get a notification a few minutes later saying that iOS has blocked access to the app, rendering the alarm useless. I get no advice on how to change any settings to resolve this. Otherwise the app works great.

5 years ago, drfu

One of my top three apps

This, 2 Across and Wikipanion are my best reasons for having an iPhone. PDXBus is without doubt the best transit app I have ever had the chance to use, is better than TriMet's own website, is feature rich and has had so few problems over the last five years that I wouldn't hesitate to say that this is the must have app if you live in the area.

5 years ago, Shinyobject

Indispensable for PDX commuting

I use this app multiple times a day to help determine if I’m going to wait at a Max stop or walk to the next one. I have tried others and they don’t even compare. Siri shortcut integration is great! I can make a shortcut widget of my most frequent stops and go right to them. Honestly, if you’re in Portland and you ride TriMet even occasionally, get this app! So well done.

6 years ago, Ana_R_PDX

Best App For TriMet

This has been my app of choice since it was released. I've tried others but this is my go-to and currently the only one I use. For users complaining that times aren't loading, when that happens is usually because the problem is coming from a TriMet transit tracker outage and *not* the app developer itself.

5 years ago, Lauratiny

Alerts don’t work

I use this app almost daily and it’s very helpful. The times are usually incredibly accurate. My only complaint is that if I set an alarm to alert me and move to a different app (with this one open in the background) it doesn’t alert me unless I go back into this app. That is utterly useless.

4 years ago, DaringMe

Super helpful!

I use this religiously, it’s incredibly helpful to use while exploring Portland or just going to work, although if you’re using it to go to work you should arrive at least five minutes early as the times the train arrive aren’t always exactly then, but other than that it’s very helpful.

5 years ago, BigStiz

Well designed BUT...

Over the last months, I’ve received inaccurate information several times from this app with regard to Max arrival times. This has occurred when I’ve been departing from both the Bybee Bridge Max station and the 5th and Oak Max station. It’s a real bummer. I blast out of my house to get a Max that’s reported as arriving at a certain time, then arrive to the stop to find I’ve got 10+ minutes to spare.

4 months ago, Carpgrandma

Visiting from California

I am impressed with how Portland is coming back and your heroic bus drivers are a big factor. During the pandemic they kept buses running, we’re and are always courteous and helpful to visitors and the buses are clean and run on schedule. Thank you Truman from a visitor to your city

6 years ago, BlueStickey

Essential app for commuters

I use it every day and it makes getting around on TriMet so much easier. I especially like being able to select a bus and see its exact location, which is very helpful when heavy traffic or bad weather makes the time estimates inaccurate.

5 years ago, Left Coasting

Smooth, clean, versatile, accurate

This great app does a really solid job of handling the nuances and details of Metro Portland’s multifaceted transit system. From GPS locations to bus-route options to Max train times — it covers it all, and keeps up with the evolution of the technology and the transit system itself. Thanks for the good work!!

2 years ago, littlestar12

App won’t give me trip schedule for the next day

Something is up with the app. I went and put in the info needed for the trip and it kept giving me nothing which I found strange, so I went on to the TriMet website and was able to get a schedule for my trip for the next day. Please fix this issue with the app.

6 years ago, Natedt999

Won't load

aug 10 Thanks devs for fixing the problem and reading reviews from users! Now it works flawless. aug 2 so frustrated when you need this app to estimate time but it won't load. I am going to delete this app to use another instead.

5 years ago, MW6913

The best app for riding Trimet!

This is a great app that does everything you need with no bloat. Just bookmark your most common stops and then you’ll always have live arrival times literally two clicks away. Oh, and I just discovered the QR reader - who knew! Highly recommended.

4 years ago, dayhiker9

I use it all the time

It can take some time to figure out how to bookmark stops & trips & it can tell u to walk wrong direction to your stop! This might be due to TriMet starting one in the wrong direction at first from an approximate gps point

4 years ago, Texorian

Better maph functions BUT

Thanks to the developers for better map search functionality. But the prior search is prefilled in the search box and the only way I can find to get rid of it is to delete ONE character at a time which takes forever. Needs a clear button or not to prepopulate with meaningless data.

6 years ago, MizMoody

Updated review: Departure times fixed, huzzah

Belated thanks for fixing the departure-time problem, and/or prodding the folks at TriMet to correct it! Whenever I'm on the bus (which is often) I use this app, and I appreciate having such a solid transit tool available.

4 years ago, Bus Rider 2K+19

Bus Rider

This is the best app I have ever used. It gives you all the bus lines, Max and street car. The arrival and departures times, route maps and schedules. It even gives you the bus number and route number. Well done Tri-Met and thank you !!!!!!

5 years ago, cameronstarrenergy

App working after latest update

This has restored functionality and now one of the apps I use the most now works. Appreciate the developer reaching out director and getting the app fixed.

4 years ago, isaacszy

Fast and accurate

This app always works. I use it to see when the next MAX or bus is arriving at my stop. I don’t know how it works, but it knows exactly where they are regardless of schedule.

5 years ago, cookies and boogers

I would pay for this app!

This is my first review on the iTunes Store and all I can say is WOW! This app is awesome! I save my trips and can easily update the schedule to accommodate time changes to/from. Great app! Thank you!!

2 years ago, Logancuts

It stopped working….

I’ve been using this app for years, and just a few weeks ago it stopped working. The schedule is still there, but all in grey with no more real time updates. I really rely on knowing when the bus or tram will be coming. But now I just have to hope it’s on time.

1 year ago, AsteriskLiker

So useful

Information is super accurate, and the bookmark tool makes my life so much easier!

4 months ago, Miles WB

Why just why?!

This app never and I mean never gives me the buses close to my job. I live by the 9 and 75. All three options are the 9 and then get on another bus and then walk 8 mins to my job. I always take the 75 to 20 or 19 which drops me off 2 blocks from my job! I’ll be at the 75 stop and it will tell me to walk to the 9!!! I’m over it!!!

6 years ago, jonahherman

Looks clunky. Functions elegantly.

The animations, and graphics, and overall appearance is dated but the app does everything (and more) you would want functionally!

5 years ago, Trixks

Update fixed issues,

Update fixed compatibility issues so now it works like a charm.

5 years ago, Anita BCE

THE source for TriMet rides!

I heavily rely on this awesome app to get me to work and home again every day! Great job! Especially liking the new feature listing how full the buses are! Good to know!

5 months ago, Random&$#012

How to Use?

Kudos for getting new Streetcar feed. But cannot figure out how to use the app. No "back" button? Once you get to a screen you're stuck there. Eventually find a useful countdown but it's kind of random.

5 years ago, ag97690

Has been the best TriMet tracking app for years

Always the go to app in Portland to find where and what time the buses and MAX arrive. Way better than the TriMet app.

6 years ago, Furyuri

Great, useful app!

It's accurate, fairly easy to learn, and lets you bookmark your "favorite" stops for quick access to arrival times.

7 months ago, Studyhall999971

Essential for all Portland & guests

Real time bus schedules with maps. I have used it almost every day since it launched.

5 years ago, photobruch

Great update today

Today's (Oct 4, 2018) update restored this fantastic app. It is now working on my iPad once again. Thank you for fixing the app- it's the best way to use Trimet in Portland!

2 years ago, IF007JB

Lousy ticket functionality

If all you want to do is put together a schedule the app is ok, not great or good, but it works. But just try to figure out how to get a ticket for your ride & the app is totally useless. They need to look at Denver’s RTD ticket app. Takes about 30 seconds to get your ticket purchased with no hassle & no complications!

5 years ago, undergroundgeek

Beyond incredible

Every good thing you can think of this app does. If it doesn’t, it will be in the next release.

4 years ago, sjrash.lists

The best

The best transit app. I love how I can preset time and stop numbers so all I have to do is launch the app and I immediately get arrivals for my stop with no clicking, etc.

5 years ago, halofan81

Been a fan for years

There are paid public transportation apps that are worse than this free one. Simply amazing.

4 years ago, zsazsaV

Doesn’t work consistently

Is there a better app or a new way for presenting tickets? 2nd time I rode the bus and the ticket hasn’t presented after I purchased. In my personal experience makes me not want to use this even though it’s worked great in the past. I participate in mass transit because it’s better for the environment. Improv your tech for ppl not profit thank you

9 months ago, JimboOR

Thank you

This app is so useful, and has everything one may need and more. All free by a volunteer!

Description

PDX Bus is an award winning application that displays arrival times for public transport in Portland, Oregon. ** PDX Bus won Best in Show at the CivicApps.org awards ** This app uses the Internet to quickly access TriMet's live tracking data to display arrival times perfectly formatted for the iPhone. It allows you to bookmark frequently used stops, displays recently accessed stops, and gives details for arrivals which are en-route. You can enter the stop "id" of the stop (as displayed at each stop or station) or you can browse the routes for the stop. Feature includes: - Interactive rail maps, showing the MAX, WES and Streetcar stops. - Embedded maps, showing locations of stops, and when available, the last known position of the bus or train. - Use GPS to locate nearby stops or rail stations. - Browse routes and stops, show an entire route on the map. - Links to TriMet route information. - Displays Rider Alerts, and Detours. - A "Nighttime visibility flasher" - a flashing screen that can be used at night so that drivers can see you. TriMet suggests holding up a cell phone to make yourself visible to bus drivers. -Trip Planning - now you can use the same trip planning feature that is available on TriMet's web site. - Specially formatted text to work with the iPhone 3GS VoiceOver accessibility feature to speak arrivals. - QR code reader to read codes at bus stops and stations Route and arrival data provided by permission of TriMet. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Note: this free application was developed as a volunteer effort to provide a service for TriMet riders, the developer has no affiliation with TriMet, or Apple. Suggestions and feedback are welcome.