About First Bus
A guy on my team, Mark, wouldn’t stop talking about how this app saved him from missing his bus. I’m always rushing between meetings and hate wasting minutes, so I figured why not. I downloaded it about five weeks ago. The promise was simple: stop guessing when the bus will actually show up. For the most part, it delivers on that, turning my commute from a frustrating gamble into something I can almost manage. It’s on my home screen now, but it’s a love-hate relationship for sure.
Features & Highlights
The live tracker is the main reason I keep it open. Last Thursday, I was at the stop on High Street watching the screen say “2 minutes” for what felt like ten. I was about to lose it, but then I saw the little bus icon was actually stuck three streets back because of roadworks. That intel meant I could duck into a shop for five minutes instead of freezing. Buying tickets on the phone is the other big win. I bought a monthly pass while waiting for my coffee on a Monday morning and just flashed my screen at the driver. No digging for a card or exact change while everyone behind me sighs. The journey planner is decent too; I used it to find a stop near a client’s office in an area I don’t know well, and it got me there.
User Experience
When it works, it’s fine. I open the app and my usual stops are right there. Tapping shows the buses. But it feels fragile. The map froze on me twice last week—once showing my bus as a motionless dot while I watched it roll up. My phone is an iPhone 15 Pro, so it’s not the hardware. Performance totally tanks if I have even two bars of signal. There’s a stop near the underpass on my route where the app just gives up and spins. The design is clean enough, I’ll give them that. Finding the ticket section is no problem. But it has these little moments of slowness when loading schedules that grind my gears. I need information fast, not after a three-second lag.
Pricing
The app doesn’t cost anything, which is the only way I’d have tried it. You pay for the tickets inside it. From what I can tell, the prices match what the driver charges. The value isn’t in saving money, it’s in saving time and my sanity. Not having to queue at a machine or worry about carrying the right change is huge for me. I did notice an offer for a cheaper day ticket if you buy before 9 AM, which I used once for a weekend trip. That was a nice perk.
Updates & Support
I see update notifications every so often. The last one claimed to fix “map stability,” but I still had that freeze I mentioned. My real issue was with support. I had a problem where a single ticket I bought didn’t show up in my active passes. I used the contact form in the app, explained the issue, and attached a screenshot of my receipt. The auto-reply said they’d get back to me soon. “Soon” was over two days later, and the reply was a generic paragraph asking for information I’d already provided. I had to write back again to get it sorted. For someone who needs things fixed now, that was incredibly frustrating.
Security & Privacy
I had to think about this when I entered my card details. The purchase process uses what looks like a standard secure payment system, and I’ve never seen any weird charges. They store my home and work locations for quick routing, which is convenient but obviously means they have that data. Their privacy policy is a long document I skimmed—it talks about using data to improve services and for marketing. I turned off marketing emails right away. It feels as secure as any other shopping app, but I’m not thrilled about another company having a log of all my movements.
How does the live bus tracker work in the First Bus app?
The live tracker shows a map with a bus icon that moves in real-time, so you can see exactly where your bus is and if it's stuck in traffic. This helped one user avoid waiting in the cold by showing them the bus was delayed due to roadworks, letting them duck into a shop until it was close.
Can I buy bus tickets directly through the app?
Yes, you can purchase tickets like a monthly pass or a day ticket right in the app and then just show your phone screen to the driver. It saves you from fumbling for cash or a card, and the app sometimes offers cheaper day tickets if you buy before 9 AM.
Why does the app sometimes freeze or show a bus as a motionless dot?
This is a known issue, especially in areas with weak signal, like near underpasses, and it can happen even on newer phones like the iPhone 15 Pro. If the map freezes, try closing and reopening the app, or wait a few seconds—sometimes it catches up once your signal improves.
What should I do if a ticket I bought doesn't show up in my active passes?
First, check your internet connection and refresh the tickets section. If it's still missing, use the app's contact form to report the issue with a screenshot of your receipt—the auto-reply will give you a case number, and support should follow up, though response times can vary.
How does First Bus compare to other bus tracking apps like Citymapper or Google Maps?
First Bus focuses specifically on First Bus services, so its live tracker is more accurate for those buses than general apps, which rely on schedule data. However, Citymapper and Google Maps offer broader route planning across multiple transit options and are often more stable, while First Bus can feel fragile with map freezes and lag.
