MTA

Image courtesy of Patrick J. Cashin / Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Flickr

July 18, 2023

MTA announces 5 fare-free bus routes

New York City is testing out free fares on bus routes in every borough this fall. As part of a pilot program launching in late September, five bus lines will be free to riders for between six and 12 months, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA announced Monday. The routes, which serve roughly 43,900 daily riders on an average weekday, were selected based on ridership, fare evasion, service quality, equity for low-income communities, and access to employment and commercial areas, according to the MTA.
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Private firm unveils Penn Station redesign plan, claims it’s $1B cheaper than MTA’s

Renderings courtesy of ASTM, PAU, and HOK

June 29, 2023

Private firm unveils Penn Station redesign plan, claims it’s $1B cheaper than MTA’s

By Aaron Ginsburg

A private development firm unveiled a proposal for rebuilding Penn Station that is $1 billion cheaper than what is proposed by the MTA. ASTM North America on Wednesday revealed details of their $6 billion renovation of the transit station, which involves keeping Madison Square Garden in its current location, wrapping it in a massive stone facade, and creating a more unified train hall. The firm's unveiling of the comprehensive plan comes days after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that Penn Station's renovation will move forward with the preliminary design process without the development of several office towers.
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NYC’s congestion pricing program gets final federal approval

Photo by Jesús Mirón García on Pexels

June 27, 2023

NYC’s congestion pricing program gets final federal approval

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City's congestion pricing program is officially moving forward. The Federal Highway Administration on Monday approved the Central Business District Tolling Program, the nation's first congestion pricing plan, which will charge drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours between $9 and $23 for non-commercial vehicles and between $12 and $82 for trucks. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the program could begin as early as May 2024.
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Hochul drops office towers from Penn Station renovation plan

View of mid-block train hall facing south; Renderings Courtesy of FXCollaborative / WSP / John McAslan + Partners

June 27, 2023

Hochul drops office towers from Penn Station renovation plan

By Devin Gannon

The renovation of Penn Station will move forward without the construction of several skyscrapers, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday. The governor's plan to overhaul the busy transit hub originally called on the developer Vornado to redevelop 18 million square feet of the Midtown West neighborhood, including 10 new high-rise office towers, with the tax revenue generated helping fund the station overhaul. Now, Hochul says funding from the state and federal government makes it possible to move forward with the renovation without any development proceeds.
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MTA celebrates Pride Month with train decals and limited-edition MetroCards

Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

June 7, 2023

MTA celebrates Pride Month with train decals and limited-edition MetroCards

By Aaron Ginsburg

In celebration of Pride Month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has decorated subway cars, buses, and commuter rail lines with Pride-themed decals, digital displays, and posters. The agency also released a special MetroCard that is available at select subway stations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
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NYC subway, bus fare to increase to $2.90 by end of summer, under MTA proposal

Photo by Asael Peña on Unsplash

May 23, 2023

NYC subway, bus fare to increase to $2.90 by end of summer, under MTA proposal

By Devin Gannon

New York City commuters will likely pay more for subway, bus, and commuter rail trips by the end of the summer. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday unveiled its proposal for fare increases across the system. The cost of a single subway and bus trip would increase by 5 percent from $2.75 to $2.90, the first base fare increase since 2015.
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MTA unveils redesign of NYC subway turnstile as fare evasion solution

Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

May 18, 2023

MTA unveils redesign of NYC subway turnstile as fare evasion solution

By Aaron Ginsburg

To deter the roughly 400,000 subway riders who don't pay the fare every day, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to redesign the turnstiles for the first time in modern history. The agency on Wednesday unveiled a potential design of a new subway fare gate that includes glass doors that slide open, replacing the rotating turnstiles that have been part of the system since its inception. The new gates would remove the need for emergency exit doors, which the MTA said accounts for more than half of all fare evasion.
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NYC’s congestion pricing program gains key approval

Photo by Raidarmax on Wikimedia Commons

May 8, 2023

NYC’s congestion pricing program gains key approval

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City's congestion pricing plan is finally moving forward after years of delays. President Joe Biden's administration last week approved the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's environmental review of their proposed Central Business District Tolling Program, which would charge drivers for entering certain parts of Manhattan at peak hours. With this initial approval from the Federal Highway Administration, a 30-day public review period is now open. The MTA said the new tolling system could launch as soon as spring 2024, as Politico reported.
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Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit on Flickr

May 5, 2023

MTA service alerts are back on Twitter

By Aaron Ginsburg

After suspending the use of Twitter for real-time service alerts just last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has resumed posting on the social media platform. The decision comes after Twitter reversed plans to charge government agencies for using its application programming interface (API), which would have cost the MTA $50,000 per month.
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Broadway Junction’s overhaul to include $500M in safety, public space, and accessibility upgrades

Image courtesy of Caroline Willis/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

May 2, 2023

Broadway Junction’s overhaul to include $500M in safety, public space, and accessibility upgrades

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City is investing nearly $500 million to revitalize the area around one of Brooklyn's busiest transit hubs. The overhaul of East New York's Broadway Junction subway station includes accessibility upgrades, two new public plazas, and safety improvements as part of the city's effort to make the hub a regional transit center, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday. Work is expected to begin in 2027 and finish by 2030.
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MTA suspends use of Twitter for service alerts, calls the platform ‘unreliable’

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City commuters will no longer be able to check Twitter for service alerts. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday suspended the use of Twitter for posting service alerts, stating that the social media platform's reliability "can no longer be guaranteed." The transit agency's Twitter access through its application programming interface (API) was "involuntarily interrupted" twice in the last two weeks on April 14 and April 27.
Details here

NYC subway tops 4 million daily riders for the first time since March 2020

Photo by(vincent desjardins) on Flickr

April 24, 2023

NYC subway tops 4 million daily riders for the first time since March 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the New York City subway system served more than four million riders in a single day. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced the NYC subway system recorded 4,002,961 paid riders on April 20, the highest tally reached since March 12, 2020. OMNY, the transit system's contactless fare system, also set a single-day subway record on Thursday with 1,699,914 taps, representing 42.5 percent of the day's subway rides.
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New NYC subway announcements recorded by children with autism

Photo courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

April 12, 2023

New NYC subway announcements recorded by children with autism

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City subway commuters will be guided by announcements recorded by young New Yorkers in recognition of World Autism Awareness Month. To bring attention to the millions of people living with autism worldwide, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and INCLUDEnyc invited children with autism to record subway announcements that both encourage straphangers to follow transit rules and remind them of Autism Awareness Month. The recordings are playing in select subway stations through Sunday, April 30.
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MTA to install dedicated stroller spaces on over 1,000 NYC buses across 57 routes

Image courtesy of the MTA on Flickr

March 27, 2023

MTA to install dedicated stroller spaces on over 1,000 NYC buses across 57 routes

By Aaron Ginsburg

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week announced it would begin the second phase of its Open Stroller Pilot, expanding its dedicated stroller spaces to over 1,000 buses on 57 routes across the five boroughs. The program will equip all local and select buses operating out of six bus depots with dedicated stroller spaces by the fall of 2023.
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Image via WikiCommons

March 16, 2023

New York lawmakers call for $2.75 fare freeze and free bus pilot in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York lawmakers on Tuesday proposed keeping New York City subway and bus fares at $2.75. As first reported by Crain's New York, the state legislature's one-house budgets rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to raise transit fares to $3, and instead called for a freeze on fares and an investment of $50 million for a free bus pilot program.
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Iconic NYC subway busker Ballerina Mime to perform at Lincoln Center

Photos by Lawrence Sumulong, © Lincoln Center

March 6, 2023

Iconic NYC subway busker Ballerina Mime to perform at Lincoln Center

By Aaron Ginsburg

A New York City busking sensation will emerge above ground to perform at Lincoln Center on Wednesday. The famed living statue the Ballerina Mime will perform alongside original chamber music from cellist Titilayo Ayangade and violist Edwin Kaplan, playing together as duo kayo. The event, called Living Statues, Living Music, will take place at the David Geffen Hall's Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio on March 8 at 8 p.m.
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Events & Things To Do

Full LIRR service begins at Grand Central Madison

Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermnan / MTA on Flickr

February 27, 2023

Full LIRR service begins at Grand Central Madison

By Aaron Ginsburg

Grand Central Madison finally opened with full Long Island Rail Road service on Monday, with a totally new schedule for commuters and a 41 percent increase in service levels. Starting February 27, an additional 271 LIRR trains per day have been added to the system for a total of up to 936 trains per day; 296 of these trains will be traveling to and from Grand Central Madison, with the remaining to Penn Station. According to officials, the new terminal will make commutes for LIRR riders up to 40 minutes shorter.
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See the new customer service centers replacing token booths at NYC subway stations

Photo courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

February 9, 2023

See the new customer service centers replacing token booths at NYC subway stations

By Devin Gannon

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week unveiled its new "customer service centers," which are replacing the glass token booths seen at every subway station. Station agents at the new centers will help commuters switch to OMNY, apply for the Reduced Fare program, and generally navigate the system. The new stalls are part of the MTA's plan to change the duties of subway station agents, who once managed cash and subway tokens from inside the locked booth. Now, in addition to the workers stationed at the centers, agents will walk around the stations.
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Transit

New open gangway subway cars to debut on the A and C lines this year

All photos courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

February 6, 2023

New open gangway subway cars to debut on the A and C lines this year

By Devin Gannon

Starting this year, commuters on the A and C subway lines will be able to easily walk from one train car to the next. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week unveiled one of the "open gangway" subway cars, which are undergoing testing and are expected to carry passengers by the end of the year. The open gangway cars, which feature accordion-like walls that connect the entire train, are part of an order that includes 535 subway and Staten Island Railway R211 cars, 20 of which will have the open gangway design.
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Transit

New 34th Street station entrance features mosaic depicting clock from old Penn Station

Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

January 27, 2023

New 34th Street station entrance features mosaic depicting clock from old Penn Station

By Aaron Ginsburg

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday unveiled new accessibility improvements at Penn Station. In addition to four newly modernized elevators, the new, fully accessible entrance at 7th Avenue and 33rd Street features artwork by Diana Al-Hadid. Measuring nearly 15 feet tall, the glass mosaic, called The Time Telling, was inspired by a photograph of the clock that hung at the entrance of the old Penn Station.
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LIRR service to Grand Central Madison starts this week

Photo of Grand Central Madison in December 2022; Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

January 24, 2023

LIRR service to Grand Central Madison starts this week

By Aaron Ginsburg

After a month-long delay due to vent exhaust problems, Grand Central Madison will officially open this week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Tuesday. The first Long Island Rail Road train with service to Manhattan's east side is scheduled to leave Jamaica at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday and arrive at the new terminal at 11:07 a.m. As part of the initial roll-out, there will be limited shuttle service between the two stations to help commuters get familiar with the new terminal, which cost roughly $12 billion, according to the transit agency.
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MTA to install bike racks at dozens of subway and commuter rail stations

Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

January 12, 2023

MTA to install bike racks at dozens of subway and commuter rail stations

By Aaron Ginsburg

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week released an action plan to better serve the city's cyclists, including the installation of bike racks on the front of buses and outside of dozens of train stations. As part of the agency's Extending Transit's Reach plan, the bike racks will be installed on the front of M60 SBS, S79 SBS, and Q44 SBS buses, all of which are Select Bus Service routes that span across four boroughs. The city's transit agency will also work to install bike racks at the entrances of 37 subway stations that currently lack parking for bikes.
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Hochul’s 14-mile ‘Interborough Express’ connecting Brooklyn and Queens will use light rail

View of the Bay Ridge Branch from below 5th Ave, which would be incorporated in the proposed Interborough Express. Image courtesy of Marc A. Hermann/MTA on Flickr

January 11, 2023

Hochul’s 14-mile ‘Interborough Express’ connecting Brooklyn and Queens will use light rail

By Aaron Ginsburg

The Interborough Express, a highly-anticipated train line that will connect Brooklyn and Queens, will use light rail, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in her State of the State address on Tuesday. While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still conducting its environmental review of the project, Hochul stated that selecting light rail would "provide the best service for customers at the lowest cost per rider," according to a press release.
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MTA reopens public bathrooms at 9 subway stations

Image via WikiCommons

January 9, 2023

MTA reopens public bathrooms at 9 subway stations

By Aaron Ginsburg

At last, straphangers can experience some relief. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority reopened 18 bathrooms in nine New York City subway stations to the public on Monday. The bathrooms are open at select stations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with a one-hour closure from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for cleaning. The NYC subway system's 133 public restrooms have been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic.
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7 train will not run between Queens and Manhattan for six weekends

Photo by David Wilson on Flickr

January 4, 2023

7 train will not run between Queens and Manhattan for six weekends

By Aaron Ginsburg

The 7 train will not run between Queens and Manhattan on six weekends starting next month as work begins to make Queensboro Plaza station fully accessible, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Tuesday. The $74 million project includes the addition of two elevators, an expanded mezzanine, new lighting and boarding areas, and upgrades to the existing street and station stairs to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. To carry out these upgrades, the MTA will be suspending 7-line service between 34th Street-Hudson Yards and Queensboro Plaza on certain weekends in February through April, and suspending the N line in May.
Details here

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