First off, the bus schedule is the same user-unfriendly interface i saw like 8 years ago when i first got this app. its like constantly refreshing an updated PDF and literally every other transportation app i have seen looked wayyy better even back in like 2019zSecond, the tickets were kind of hard to select. Instead of offering a round trip/return ticket after selecting your destination, it just lets you buy more of the same way ticket and i accidentally bought two outbound tickets. I should have read more carefully yes but its just not good design.Third- buying was a nightmare. When you are asked to sign in with Apple or Gmail, apple takes you to a weird sign in page rather than doing the quick FaceID that every other app nowadays has. The Gmail link didnt even work at all so i just made a new account. Then i wanted to pay with the credit card linked to my ApplePay/wallet and i had to put it in manually. at least it had the scan option but i havent had an app ask me to do that in a LONG time.i wish there was a way to buy tickets online from a computer and get them sent to my phone, but as far as i saw it isnt there.

I have never had issues with this app before COVID, however after the ferry started running again, I purchased a 7 day pass and it worked fine on Monday, for the trip into work and the return trip home. On Tuesday, I tried to activate the ticket and it left me on a loading page. No matter what I did (restart app, restart phone, connect to WiFi, connect to data, delete and reinstall app) it NEVER activated the ticket for the remainder of the week. This has now happened twice. I am furious because I am being forced to spend more money on tickets that I shouldn’t need. I am going to resort to buying paper tickets, but I will end up spending more money that way because they do not sell 7 day paper tickets, only single rides and 10 trip, both of which will be more expensive. I am also frustrated because getting in touch with anyone to assist me is nearly impossible since office hours are limited to 7am-11am. I love the ferry, it is the best part of my commute into the city, but if I cannot get the assistance I need, I will be forced to find an alternative means of getting to work.

The NY Waterway app gives you the basics in purchasing tickets on the go, checking schedules and even checking the status of your bus. As a customer for NY Waterway for the past year and a half, I use the Bus Locator which tracks the status of your bus arrival. However, to my daily disappointment, the Bus Locator is inconsistent and inaccurate. For example, sometimes you can tell a bus is on its way but you can’t tell which street it’s on for sure. Other times, you see a bus arrive with no indication on the app. As I’m typing this, I’ve been waiting for a NY waterway bus for the past 20 minutes despite a tracking icon displaying its immediate arrival. It’s extremely disappointing to rely on an app that doesn’t work all the time. As I use this app everyday for work, it would be great if there was a fix for this! Thank you.

Let me preface by saying that the NY Waterway service (ferries, crew, etc.) is pretty good. They have convenient times and friendly staff and the boats are almost always clean. With that out of the way, the app is the literal worst. I’ve many times just waited in line to buy a paper ticket instead of using the app. It will constantly log you out saying that the time zone of your device doesn’t match the time zone of the ticket (I think because I use 24hr clocks instead of AM/PM). I routinely can’t get the tickets to purchase or when they do I’ve bought four instead of one. And it takes absolutely ages for a ticket to activate and be ready. All leading to a very frustrating experience. Not great.