Public Transport Tracking App Development – A Complete Guide in 2025

For passengers and transit authorities, effective and dependable public transportation is crucial in the fast-paced world of today. Convenient and easily accessible modes of transportation are essential when traffic congestion worsens.

The development of transit apps is a revolutionary reaction to this need, utilizing technology to completely change the way people interact with and navigate metropolitan surroundings.

Research indicates that by the end of 2027, the logistic operations industry is projected to grow to a size of $12,975.64 billion.

These applications provide several features intended to improve public transportation systems and enhance user comfort and commuter experience by utilizing the power of connection and smartphones.

Developing an app for this sector presents a viable solution that offers a great opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs to make great ROI.

Key Features of a Public Transportation Tracking App

The logistics business deals with the two main parties drivers and customers. Furthermore, both parties bear responsibility for the smooth operation of the transportation industry. Additionally, these parties need various features to be built because each has its own set of tasks.

Additionally, an administrator is needed to oversee and manage their activities, and that administrator happens to be the transportation and logistics firm. Now that you are aware that three panels are needed to construct an Uber freight app, let’s examine its characteristics.

Admin App

The following functionalities will be available to the app’s owner.

• Sign in

The user section and this functionality are comparable. The admin will be able to control the entire public transportation app platform’s operations and create their own profile on the app with the assistance of the registration feature.

• Assess Passengers Online

The tool will give the administrator access to travelers searching online for various forms of transportation.

• List of Service Providers

The administrator can keep an eye on the various transportation providers-such as buses, trains, and other vehicles-as well as their routes, operating status, and other pertinent information.

• Subscription Management

If the application for public transport offers premium subscriptions through subscription plans, the administrator can use this to control their subscription.

• Send Alerts via Push Notification

Ticket booking confirmability, anticipated fares, and other details regarding the availability of vehicles, including buses, metro, and trains, can be communicated to app users by administrators.

• Real-time Public Transit Tracking

Administrators can monitor the vehicles’ current whereabouts and provide updates to app users who have made requests for them. The administrator can profile essential tracking data, including the approximate time of arrival at a specific site.

Customer Panel

• Registration

Becoming a member of the app should be as simple and easy as registering. It shouldn’t take a lot of time either. Additionally, since social media signup saves customers a lot of time, it would draw in more business. As the owner of the transport app, this would allow you to retrieve the name, email address, and social media account information of your esteemed users.

• Alert Users

When a booking is made, an invoice is received, an order is dispatched, and delivery occurs, among other events, this functionality would notify the user. Sending the driver’s and vehicle’s most recent status updates will also use this functionality best.

• Payment Gateway

When developing the Uber trucking app, the payment gateway should be included, just like it is with all other on-demand logistics apps. The feature eliminates the inconvenience of carrying cash and focuses on paying through the app. Customers can use PayPal, mobile wallets, or conventional cards to make payments.

• Observation/Tracking

Customers feel more secure and safe when they can track their orders. Additionally, adding this option might improve communication and foster a sense of trust among clients. The customer may be able to determine the driver’s location and the projected time of delivery with the help of on-time tracking.

• Feedback & Recommendations

For the transportation sector, the feedback feature is just as crucial as the revenue. Not only that, but HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan also asserts that “feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Customers would be expressing their experiences and suggestions here, which, if taken into consideration, may transform your basic software into the greatest logistical and transportation app.

Driver Panel

• Registration of the Driver Panel

The driver registration feature is crucial because it will only permit drivers who work for your logistics company. The drivers must register using a phone number, email address, or social media account.

• Profile of Drivers

There should be a feature on the drivers’ panel in addition to the admin’s ability to add the driver’s profile. Additionally, he or she may manually enter their information into the program.  The data will be kept in the backend of the application.

• Digital Proof of Delivery

Delivery workers had a demanding job since they were traditionally held accountable for goods theft.  However, the task was made simple by AI technology and logistics app development. The driver’s job is now much easier, and there is absolutely no risk.

• Push Notifications

Just as push notifications assist customers in knowing when their orders are dispatched or in route, they also assist drivers in knowing:

• Assigned orders
• Modifications to the planned orders
• From the admin or customer

Additionally, the app does not need to be open because it tells the driver of anything crucial right from the notification bar.

5 Easy Steps to Create a Transportation App

It is necessary to take the proper actions to carry out development smoothly. The five crucial steps are summarized in the graphic below.

Establish Your Goal

Before anything else, it becomes crucial to ascertain the target audience for your transportation application. There are two approaches to consider and develop an application.

Designed exclusively for use with a single app to track a fleet, drivers, and individual customers’ consignments or freight for use in their own transportation business.

To earn revenue from the software and offer the product as a service (SaaS) to other logistics companies.

Recognize Your Audience

Here, as the owner of a transportation company, you ought to be aware of who your target customers are. The time and money spent on fleet management software would be in vain if there was no good idea.

However, if you were an entrepreneur, the only people you would target would be logistics and transport firms. It would be up to you to persuade them by enumerating the qualities that will entice them to become a possible client.

List of Features

Three distinct panels can be used to group the various aspects that make up the logistic management system:

• Administration Panel (Dispatch, Driver, Inventory, Order, and Payment Management)
• Customer Panel (fleet booking, purchase tracking, etc.)
• Driver Panel (Check navigation, order details, etc.)

Integration of Technology

Various technologies that address particular needs of mobile apps must be combined in order to build a mobile application. This comprises

• Platforms: Windows, iOS, and Android
• App types include native, hybrid, Online Payments: PayPal, Stripe, Credit/Debit Cards, Mobile Wallets, COD Databases: MongoDB, SQL
• Cloud Storage: Google Cloud versus AWS Cloud
• Hadoop for Real-Time Analytics

Look for a Technology Partner

Not to mention, you should search for a dependable and equally responsible taxi app development firm.  You should also find out how long the company has been in business and how many mobile apps it has created for transportation.

Hire mobile app developers – another approach to create logistics apps, but it will definitely break your budget and take a lot of time. Furthermore, employing a developer alone won’t cut it; you also need to find a designer and other experts in creating transportation applications.

The steps listed above might have provided the answer to your query: how can I create an app similar to Uber? Furthermore, if you still need more details, the characteristics listed below can be the icing on the cake for you.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Public Transportation Tracking App?

When developing a transportation app for your business,it all comes down to how much it costs to create an app for public transportation that works in real time. You must choose the business to develop your app, as well as its features and design, in order to determine the approximate cost of transport and logistics app development.

However, estimating the cost of producing an app is also not too difficult. All you need to accomplish is comprehend the variables that affect the price of developing transportation software. Therefore, when estimating the cost of designing the app, keep these few things in mind.

• Selecting an OS: Cross-platform or native for both iOS and Android
• The intricacy of an application’s layout: Simple, fashionable, or sophisticated
• Qualities and Powers
• App testing and UI/UX design
• Hourly Rates for Application Development

Here is a brief analysis to help you calculate the precise and understandable real-time public transportation tracking app development cost:

An MVP, or minimum viable product, or complex real-time public transit app with advanced features will cost you around $25000 to $60000 USD.

Best Apps for Public Transportation

• Moovit: Timetables for Buses and Trains

The ideal transit app for your urban transportation rides is Moovit. It seeks to provide you with a one-stop shopping experience for traveling within a city. You may obtain efficient and reliable bus and rail schedules, maps, arrival information, and real-time navigation using this app.

• Transit: Bus and Subway Schedules

If you take the bus or subway a lot, this Transit app might be the one of the best public transit apps for you. Accurate departure timings, bus crowd situations, and other such information are the goals of this app. You can be informed about any service disruptions with Transit.

• CityMapper: Every Way You Go

One best transport app that allows you to compare several routes is called Citymapper. Real-time comparisons are possible between various forms of transportation. It enables you to locate the most efficient routes in a given city from point A to point B.

• Transit Now

Real-time vehicle tracking software Transit Now provides a full range of functions at no cost. It provides quick and simple access to current bus departure information. It enables you to personalize the stops as you see fit. Additionally, Transit is the best public transport app that provides offline statistics retrieval in the event of a network outage. You are informed about bus delays, subway closures, and other events through its service alerts.

Conclusion

Additionally, the transportation industry has made profitable investments in the development of mobile applications. Without question, the industry will continue to grow at an exponential rate with the aid of mobile technologies.

You can hire a mobile app development company as an expert to help you integrate features and functionality in accordance with industry standards and user requirements, so your public transportation technology solutions will work. Given the current tremendous growth in the transportation industry, your company needs to develop an on-demand logistics application.

Still puzzled? Partner with the top mobile app development firm with over 14+ years of experience. The group of skilled app developers has proven adept at turning concepts into functional apps.

Frequently Asked Questions