How do public transport work in New York? Here is our complete guide to travel to New York easily using the different transport of the city.
A gigantic and impressive metropolis, New York is eight times larger than Paris. Its size is often a source of concern for travellers. Rest assured, in general, moving to New York is not very difficult. Once you know the different types of transport in New York and their specificities, everything becomes easier!
Getting around in New York on foot is the best way to discover the city. Walking around and losing in New York will allow you to let yourself be carried by the atmosphere of New York’s streets, to exchange with locals and to make unexpected discoveries!
But walking is not enough to properly move around the city. You will be obliged to use the city’s public transport at any time or another – which may be disturbing at the very beginning. This is why we have prepared this guide on how to use public transport to move to New York.
To move to New York, you first have to go there – here’s why How to get from JFK Airport to New York .
How to use transport in New York?
Metro – To move to New York quickly, the metro is the perfect means of transport. Managed by MTA and very secure, it includes nearly 468 stations for 27 lines (the largest network in the world). It allows you to reach each quarter of the city. To be able to use it, you will need to buy a MetroCard . The metro runs 24/7. The passages are less frequent between midnight and 5 a.m. (20 to 30 minutes compared to 5 to 10 minutes per day).
The lines are either encrypted (1 to 7), or lettered, and have a color: color that can be the same for several lines if they make the same route in large part. It should be noted that two lines may have the same color but not the same number: one may be local (stop at all stations), the other express (stop only every 3 stations approximately). If you stay for a week in New York, the ideal is to take the 7-Day Unlimited Pass (32$) and which allows to take for an unlimited number of trips the metro and the local bus until midnight, 7 days from the first day of use.
Be sure to check the direction of the subway that you will take:
- Uptown means he goes up to Manhattan and goes to Bronx or Queens.
- Downtown means he goes down and goes to Brooklyn.
The New York Metro is old so it is often under renovation. The delays are quite common, some metro lines can be closed or deviated on weekends because of the work.
Also: The 15 things to do in New York
Bus – Also managed by MTA, the bus network is very developed and can be used with the same MetroCard. The buses are less rapid than the metro, as there is usually a stop at each street intersection. But they allow to move in the East/West direction and access more easily to certain neighborhoods. Many buses operate 24/7. The schedules and route map are displayed at the bus stop.
Good to know: Once your journey is validated, you can go from a local bus to the subway, or vice versa, or to another local bus for two hours. Free connections are not valid if you leave the subway station through the tourniquets and then you want to borrow another metro line.
Bateau – Getting around in New York by ferry is the best way to reach the convenient one: you get transported sometimes faster than the metro while enjoying a wonderful view of the city.
For example, the NYC Ferry offers boat trips along the East River. Six lines serve stops like Wall Street, 34th Street, Upper East Side or Dumbo, and many more. Learn in advance to learn about the time of passage: the ferry passes every 30 minutes or every hour. Tickets are purchased at the terminals installed at different stations. The ticket price is $2.75, as for a subway ticket.
To get to Staten Island, you will need to use the Staten Island Ferry. It offers a breathtaking view of the port of the Statue of Liberty and the Lower Manhattan.
Taxi – Getting around in New York by taxi is sometimes convenient, especially after a long day of walking. The city's yellow taxis are well known, but are not necessarily the most competitive. If you wish to contact a licensed and regulated yellow or green taxi, this is what you need to know:
- Hear the taxis whose numbers are on the top, they are in service
- Minimum price: $2.50, price that increases by 50 cents every minute or fifth of a mile depending on the travel speed
- Supplements can be added to peak hours ($1) or at night (50 cents)
- The price of tolls (ponts and tunnels) is added to the counter price
- All payment methods are accepted
- Tips for 15-20% at the end of a trip
To travel to New York by taxi, you can also address transport applications, which offer more competitive rates and comforts. Uber is the best known, it has a larger fleet of drivers than these Lift and Via competitors, which are even cheaper. The tip is not mandatory.
Map of transport in New York
As you can see on the subway map below, New York is very well served. To help you get out of this van, you can download the New York Subway MTA Map app.
Several mobile applications are also very effective to help you use transport in New York: Citymapper for example allows you to calculate your itinerary, like Google Maps, Transit App or Moovit.
Where to buy your tickets and at what price?
To travel to New York by bus or metro, you will need to buy a MetroCard at a subway station. At the entrance of the subway, if you notice a green ball it means that there is a MTA distributor that allows you to buy a MetroCard. On the other hand, if you see a red ball it means that there are no MTA distributors.
Upon purchase, you must put at least $5.50 on your purchase. When you use your MetroCard for a one-way trip, $2.75 is charged. If you stay for a week, we recommend that you opt for unlimited trips for 7 days, at $32.
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