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MiBog
A concept transit app for Bogotá
Bogotá, Colombia’s capital and largest city, has grown rapidly in recent decades, and its transit system has struggled to keep pace. The city is now building a multimodal network, from TransMilenio and TransMiCable to its first metro line, and transit apps have become the main way riders navigate it. Yet the apps available today force a trade-off: official apps have reliable data but dated, frustrating experiences, while global apps are polished but miss the city’s local needs.
MiBog is a concept transit app designed to close that gap. It combines official real-time data, built-in TuLlave card recharging, and a clean, intuitive experience shaped around how people in Bogotá actually move.
Project Overview
Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia. Mobility has long been a challenge for the city, as its transit system has lagged behind the economic and population growth of recent decades. To address this, the city is building a multimodal mass transit network designed to respond to the needs of its current and future residents. As Bogotá modernizes, works toward becoming a smart city, and seeks to connect digitally with its citizens, transit apps have become a key point of interaction between locals, visitors, and the transit system.
The city currently has three main transit systems: TransMilenio, a bus rapid transit (BRT) system; TransMiCable, a cable car system; and SITP, a local bus network, along with an extensive network of bike lanes. The first metro line is scheduled to open in late 2028 or early 2029, a second line is planned to begin construction soon after, and a regional tram system is being developed to connect the city with nearby towns and farmland. Through these projects, Bogotá aims to become competitive in mobility with cities like Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, New York, and London.
Since the widespread adoption of smartphones, the idea of the smart, connected city has grown, giving rise to transit apps that help locals and visitors navigate a growing range of mobility services. Two main approaches have emerged: global apps that cover many cities with a unified experience, and local apps that act as extensions of a city’s own transit agencies. Both fall short. Global apps are polished but treat each city the same, missing local needs such as recharging the TuLlave card. Local apps have official data but tend to look outdated, with clunky interfaces that feel years behind.
MiBog is a concept transit app for Bogotá, imagined as if the city had commissioned Apple to design it. It aims to be visually refined while responding to the city’s unique quirks, serving as a touchpoint that can grow as Bogotá becomes smarter and more integrated
App Benchmarking
There are currently three apps that serve the Bogotá metropolitan area: Mi TransMi, Maas, and Moovit. Each has the same goal: helping people navigate the city. To compare them, I looked at how well each supports the core tasks riders rely on every day: planning a route, checking real-time arrivals, and checking or recharging a TuLlave card, the city’s mass transit card.
Mi TransMi
Mi TransMi is the official app created by the city. Because of that, it has access to data like no other app and is by far the most data-rich of the three. From a design perspective, however, it suffers from being too ambitious: it surfaces raw data without a clear visual hierarchy, so users have to scan dense screens to find the information they need.
Strengths: It’s free and official, and its data is very reliable and refreshed frequently, giving users a near real-time view of the system. For daily commuters, that reliability is the foundation of trust.
Main Roadblocks: Getting to the right view takes too many steps, with key features buried under several layers of menus. Route planning is basic, and when a commuter wants to check or recharge their TuLlave card before boarding, the app sends them to a separate app, breaking the journey at one of its most time-sensitive moments.
Maas
Maas is the newest of the three and tries to fix Mi TransMi’s shortcomings. It lets users recharge their TuLlave card directly in the app and takes a cleaner, more unified UI approach.
Strengths: It feels more modern, and having TuLlave recharging built in removes one of the biggest friction points of the official app. Combined with its Cabify and local parking integration, it tries to bring every part of mobility together under one roof, so riders can move between transit and ride-hailing in a single place.
Main Roadblocks: The cleaner interface doesn’t carry through to the experience. Interactions are slow and buggy, and a splash screen animation tries to mask long loading times, which is especially frustrating for someone checking a route on the go. The visual language is also inconsistent: the app imposes its own color palette over the transit system’s established colors, so riders can’t rely on the colors they see at stations and on buses to orient themselves.
Moovit
Moovit is a global app that covers a wide range of cities, including Bogotá.
Strengths: Visually and in terms of user experience, it is the most mature of the apps currently available in Bogotá. Data is displayed clearly, flows are concise, and navigation is intuitive, which also makes it the most approachable option for visitors who don’t know the system.
Main Roadblocks: Ads and constant upselling to a subscription interrupt the flow. Users often have to wait for a timer before they can close an ad, and the close buttons are hard to find, a frustrating delay when a bus is about to arrive. As a global product, it also lacks local features like TuLlave recharging.
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
Jobs to Be Done is a framework pioneered by Tony Ulwick and popularized by Clayton Christensen that has helped many designers break down and gauge how to design products and services for today. Past models addressed specific issues and allowed us to create designs that solved our problems. Today, we are inundated with solutions, and in many cases they do solve the issue. But we need to recognize that a design can solve the original problem without addressing the pain points, or “jobs,” people are trying to get done today.
MAIN JOB
When I need to get somewhere in Bogotá, I want to know which mass transit options will take me there, so I can reach my destination on time, confidently, and comfortably
SUB JOB 1 · PLAN
When I’m figuring out how to get somewhere in Bogotá, I want to easily see and compare the routes that can take me there, so I can quickly pick the one that works best for me
SUB JOB 2 · WAIT
When I’m waiting at a station or stop, I want to know reliably when my bus or train will arrive, so I can decide whether to wait, switch routes, or take another option instead of standing around anxious.
SUB JOB 3 · RIDE
When the next bus or train is likely to be packed, I want to know whether a less crowded option is coming soon or nearby, so I can decide if it’s worth waiting or moving instead of squeezing in.
ACTION JOBS · ACROSS EVERY STEP
TRUST
When I’m relying on transit information to make a decision, I want to trust that it’s accurate and up to date and clear to understand, so I can act on it without double-checking or hedging.
STAY INFORMED
When something changes on my trip, like a delay, a crowded bus, or a better option, I want to find out right away without having to check, so I can adjust my plan before it’s too late.
AT A GLANCE
When I’m checking transit information on the go, I want to see what I need at a glance, without clutter, so I can make a decision quickly and put my phone away.
Design Philosophy
The JTBD benchmarking and earlier research pointed to a clear design philosophy. It guided the user journey and informed decisions about colour, approach, and overall feel. Like the main job in Jobs to Be Done, it was captured in a single overarching statement:
GUIDING STATEMENT
Design a transit app that looks, feels, and behaves as if Bogotá had hired Apple or Google to build it.
FAMILIAR CITY, FIRST-PARTY FEEL
The app uses Bogotá’s official colours, signage, and transit system, but the interface still feels like a first-party app. The official colours help riders recognise their route, line, or station, just as they do on the street. Everything else stays clean and simple.
FAST AND GLANCEABLE
Riders reach the information they need in three taps or fewer, and every screen can be understood in under five seconds.
LOCALLY CONSCIOUS
Bogotá is a busy, lively city, and like any big city, phone theft and pickpocketing are real concerns for riders. Being able to glance at the screen, get what you need, and put your phone away quickly isn’t just convenient. It helps riders stay safe.
ABOVE ALL · ACROSS EVERY SCREEN
PROACTIVE
The app surfaces what riders need to know, such as delays, crowding, or a better route, before they have to look for it.
TRUSTWORTHY
Above all, riders need to trust it. Information must be accurate and up to date so they can make decisions and reach their destination without stress.
Designs
STEP 1 · PLAN
01 · START
The user sees their approximate location and can either choose a transit system or search for a destination.
02 · SEARCH
Below the search bar, riders see the nearest station, along with its routes and the expected arrival times of the next buses.
03 · PORTAL DEL NORTE
When riders select a destination, the app shows the available routes, grouped by transit system.
04 · B12 SEARCH
When riders select a route, they see an overview along with clear graphics showing the route and upcoming departures.
STEP 2 · WAIT & RIDE
05 · CALLE 93
Once riders start navigating, they can see how busy each section of the platform is and choose which door to wait at for the next bus.
06 · CALLE 93 STATION DETAILED
This screen also shows clear, concise messages that tell riders how full the station and bus are, and whether it’s worth boarding or waiting for the next one.
07 · NAVIGATING
A condensed navigation view gives riders the right information at the right time.