GoNow App for GO Transit

I've been a regular user of GO Transit ever since I moved to Pickering almost 25 years ago. Service on the Lakeshore East line has improved markedly since then, from hourly to 15 minutes  during the day and 30 minutes on weekends. However, reliability is still an issue, especially during the winter and when they are doing track or switch maintenance (which seems to be every weekend).

GO used to have a mobile app, but dropped it a couple of years ago. Their website is reasonably mobile friendly, but not as convenient to use as a dedicated app would be. Now an outfit called Data Crunchrs has stepped in with a very useful app called GoNow.

The app provides four functions:

• View departures from Union Station.
• Search for and view schedules
• Track GO trains in real time
• View GO Transit service updates

The features are basic but useful. You can favourite a schedule so that it shows up on the Schedules tab; for example, Pickering to Union Station. The schedule selection could be easier to use, especially for the bus routes, but it does display the schedule for the current day or other dates that you select. The Tracker tab displays only GO trains on the map but does give you real-time information if you tap on a train's icon. I'd like to see the Union Station departures tab expanded so you could select departures for a specific location, such as Pickering GO.

Even with these limitations this is a very useful app and no GO train rider should be without it. I don't know if there is an IOS version for iPhones – if you're an iPhone user and can check if it's available (or suggest another equivalent app), please leave a comment.