7 Apps for a Faster Commute

There are multitudes of apps designed to help you stay organized and be more productive, but you could be wasting precious minutes or hours getting to and home from work. Whether you drive, take the bus, subway or bike to work, we’ve rounded up seven of the best apps to help you streamline your route and save those crucial minutes.

1. Beat the Traffic

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Get up-to-date, real-time traffic information including average speeds, incidents and roadwork currently taking place on your route to work — or your route to anywhere, really. The free version of the app allows for up to three door-to-door addresses within one trip, meaning you can even throw in a coffee stop on your way to the office and still manage to be on time. Or, if you take the same route every day, you can set an alarm within the app to alert you of any roadwork or accidents without having to manually check before heading out the door. Beat the Traffic updates so frequently that many TV and radio stations use its technology to power their traffic reports. The app is free on iOS, Android and BlackBerry, or you can opt for the paid versions to remove all ads.

2. Bike Maps

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Biking to work requires considerably more information than typical driving apps provide. For instance, you may want to know how many cars use a particular street at any given time, if a road is paved or not, or if a new route you are considering is multi-use, off-limits or on public land. Plus, you need to know all of this information whether or not you have Internet access. Bike Maps delivers on all of these points — you can download maps to your phone for quick access without Wi-Fi, and draw on them to measure distance, time or feasibility of a new route. The iOS app’s convenience of speed, offline capabilities and detailed maps are worth the $0.99 price.

3. Daily Commute

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Finally, an app that predicts the future — well, sort of. Daily Commute uses data from previous commutes to predict how long your travel time will be on a daily basis, and lets you know what time you should plan to head out of the house. Simply enter a target arrival time and the app will give you a target “leave time,” as well as a visual countdown. The only caveat is that the app gets smarter with frequent use, so don’t expect perfection on the first few tries. The more data you provide, the more accurately Daily Commute will make predictions, taking into consideration the day of the week, season, road work and time that you are heading out. Daily Commute is free on iOS and is sure to help out anyone who is perpetually late.

4. Waze

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One of the best ways to ensure a quick commute is to receive real-time tips from other commuters in your area. Waze provides instantaneous user-generated feedback to alert you to police cars, accidents or traffic jams, helping make your commute seamless and stress-free. Additionally, Waze users update the gas prices at various gas stations. You can save both time and money with this app available for free on both iPhone and Android devices.

5. HopStop

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HopStop is a godsend for anyone who has ever jumped on the wrong train and doubled the length of their commute. HopStop offers door-to-door transit directions, bus/train/subway schedule information, biking directions, real-time delay or traffic information and even estimated costs and travel times. The app now works in more than 600 cities worldwide.

HopStop is only available for iOS — Apple removed the app from other platforms after acquiring HopStop earlier this year.

6. Moovit

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Moovit is a GPS-based app designed to help commuters navigate public transportation in real-time. The app is “powered by the crowd,” enabling users to share reports and status updates about their commute — crowdsourced data that contributes to the app’s recommendations, schedule information and arrival time estimates. Aimed at commuters who use the train, bus, trolley, subway or ferry — and even walkers — Moovit helps you find the least crowded routes to your destination. Share your route with friends to schedule easy meet-ups. The free app is available for Android and iOS in most major metropolitan areas in the U.S and Canada, as well as many international locations.

7. iNextBus

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Forget about playing the guessing game while waiting for the bus on your daily commute — no more waiting in the cold! iNextBus provides users with real-time locations of every bus on their route, as well as accurate arrival times. So far, users seem satisfied — the app has a 4.5 average rating across 1,300+ total reviews (Android and iOS). Users can bookmark favorite stops and estimate route times remotely to find the quickest option before even leaving home. iNextBus is free and currently supports most public transit routes in the U.S. and Canada.