“It’s Not Perfect”: Harvard Students Mixed on New Shuttle-Tracking App Citymapper

Four months after Harvard University Transit Services replaced Passio GO!, Harvard students have mixed reviews of the new shuttle-tracking platform Citymapper.

Harvard transitioned to Citymapper on July 1, following years of student complaints about Passio GO! malfunctioning and displaying inaccurate arrival times. Students say the new platform has improved accuracy and more transit options, but some have struggled to navigate its interface.

Citymapper offers some helpful additions, according to Andrew Jin ’29. The app allows users to enter their starting point and desired destination, whereas Passio GO! was “relatively unclear.”

“Citymapper directly says ‘where do you want to go, we’ll get you there,’” Jin said.

Citymapper’s interface also sorts shuttles by arrival time, which makes it “a lot easier” to compare shuttle options, according to Prisha Sheth ’28.

“I would have to compare the different shuttles at each stop when, in reality, there’s multiple shuttles I could take to the Quad,” Sheth said.

The app, like Passio GO!, still allows users to track the location of a bus or shuttle on the map in real time, but Citymapper has a more accurate timetable and GPS system, along with a more straightforward interface, according to Patrick Xu ’29.

“It’s not perfect, but like yeah, it’s a big improvement,” Xu said.

Citymapper does not just track the Harvard Shuttle — it also integrates real-time information for the Harvard Evening Van, M2 shuttle service, and MBTA transit. Users can limit their search to only the Harvard Shuttle, but the abundance of transit information on the app can still be overwhelming, according to Feng Xue ’30.

Xue said he mainly takes the Route 1 bus and the M2 shuttle service, but finding the two options on Citymapper is challenging.

“There’s like 20 different buses and it takes me a while to scroll to the M2,” Xue said.

Alyssa J. Kang ’29 said she wished the app was restricted to only Harvard transit services, saying she opts to use Google Maps for other transportation.

“I don’t need your Citymapper for that,” Kang said. “I want Citymapper to be just for Harvard.”

Others said the additional transit options can be helpful for planning trips. Marianne Wang ’28 said she appreciated “being able to see them in the same GPS and compare which one is faster.”

Aya I. Schwartz ’28 said that while Citymapper carries some problems, the new platform is not a step down from Passio GO!.

“It’s not like we went from something that was great to something that was bad,” Schwartz said. “It’s kind of like we went from something that had issues to something that has a different set of issues.”