Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Reviews

MTA needs to do a lot to cut down on the corruption to build up my trust with it. Everything sqeaks along, but barely.

Unfortunately this unitarian transit system in New York makes the life even more miserable and stressful than it already is with all the mess and the nastiness it has. So they take advantage of the monopoly and allow themselves to treat people as trash. Literally. And the people have to pay for that. And pay more when they rise the prices, every now and then, when they feel like, without any improvement of anything. Horrible service, delays, inaccurate schedules, uninformed and rude customer service, ignorant operators and I don't need to go any further. Will someone put an end to this? I don't think so. People will still pay to get to work cause that's the only reasonable way. And that's why it will never ever change. Nothing. Anything. Sucks.

Please don't give any assurance to people for recruitment of your job.
Suppose you give the job treat the people in real promising way.
With good accomodations, transportation, food.and proper salary.

Dirty, confusing layout, terrible pricing system, outdated technology , and the list could go on.

I wish they would make the g train come more often, but after having bad service on the g for 19 years I doubt they will change it soon. I do like the MTA because it is 24/7 unlike other metro systems around the world. It is dirty but that is understandable since the trains run all day and all night.

Trains were quick trips, although needs cleansing, and very untidy. There were some rude people, but other than that it provided a great and quick transportation.

I dont know where to start with this review. The NYC MTA is terrible, on a scale to 1-10, i give the MTA a 5 on allability and a 1 on cleanslyness. The fair never seems to stop going up and the stations are just dirty and at certain times very dangerous. Its very out of order, people are very rude as well as the NYC MTA employees.

25 minutes on hold, how many more to get an agent? " moments away" is the message. if i believe that, you can sell me a bridge in brooklyn. elaine abrams schechter

Words cannot describe how bad the NYC public subway system is. You wait over an hour for a train that was supposed to come within two minutes. The trains constantly change routes in the middle of a trip. The buses just never come. You would think they would take advice or guidance from Washington, DC, Paris or London, but they don t. They re just content with being trash.

ATROCIOUS !! Bought a metro card and loaded it up $20 and it didn't work. Why charge $1 for the flimsy paper card if it's not durable enough to work all the time. Where's your QA/QC? Asked the attendant to transfer my balance to a new card and he said it can't be done, you just gotta keep swiping. Swiped for 10 minutes and it didn't work. Stop gouging the public and fix your broken system.

IS THIS YOUR BEST!! NO SERVICE FROM 71 CONTINENTAL TO 179TH LEAVING PEOPLE STRANDED AT COURT SQUARE LEAVING PEOPLE STRANDED AT QUEENS PLAZA HEADING TO MANHATTAN...SMH

Everyday the A train is running delayed. Even the timer at the station is saying 10 min untill it arrives and u check the time 10 minutes later the timer doesn't change instead of saying delayed they just freeze the clock... Horrible service never seen anything like this in other countries

Mta: delaying my way. That's the slogan I came up with for it. Always delays. You have to give yourself an extra half hour just to get to places on time. Weekends are a nightmare if you plan on going out. Constant delays with no notifications or announcements. Waiting more than 15/20 minutes for a train when it's not even late night yet and at times during rush hour is ridiculous. Happens all the time on the D train. Always a wait for that train. It's horrible. Trains be too cold or too hot. Seats and stations always filled with homeless people and smell. Stations should all be accessible with elevators but most are not. There should be indications in the map that tell you which stations you can cross over to get the train in the opposite direction. Timeclocks arent accurate. Trains disappear from them without ever showing up. Shows a train at 0 minutes and nothing comes or it already left the station. Then you have like 2 or 3 of them for the whole platform when there should be one by every staircase and throughout so people don't have to walk half the platform just to see when the next train should arrive. There's just no common sense. Old trains still exist where you can't even hear or understand what the conductor is saying. All trains should be new ones like some of the 4 trains where you can hear the train announcements from the platform and see all stops on the line. And then there's my favorite nonsense. See attached pic. I don't understand why can't each train just run on its own line. Makes no sense to me. Smh

very very bad!!! I'm standing right now for 30 minutes. No one is obliging. After work people wait for half an hour to get home. For that $ 3?

The worst type of service to be displayed ever, no stars if google maps allowed it.

In 21 century the MTA still using the imbeciles to control their turtles in traffic order which bring collisions with 10 minutes stops somewhere in the middle. If you haven't accumulated enough knowledge in the last 100 years why don't you bring som specialist from the outside the country? Ridiculous service!

The New York Subway is one of the most disappointing transportation systems in the world. It's dirty, in dire need of upgrades for the track, stations, and signaling systems, and crosstown trips are virtually impossible. It's also very unreliable, as I remember clearly on several occasions when I was waiting on the platform for over 15 minutes before a local train arrived. MTA MIGHT EVEN FIRE MY COUSIN FOR PROTESTING THE CONSTRUCTION ON THE L LINE THAT IS RELEASING SILICA PARTICLES INTO THE STATIONS AND TUNNELS. New York is a perfect example of the faded transit infrastructure existing in the US. This is why we cannot get ourselves out of personal automobiles and always fly between cities rather than take a train. I am hopeful that Andy Byford can salvage what's left of the network.

Affordable, several options, felt perfectly safe as a tourist on the subway. Traveled from Brooklyn to Manhattan and the Bronx with ease.

Just giving an architectural point of view of a building. I am not saying anything about MTA system. Building is brutally big and aggressive to surrounding blocks. Simple it could be a little more accessible. It seems just that this block needed to be field with bunch of steel and glass.

The worst subway city on earth for any major city. Seriously. Please stop calling NYC the greatest city. How can you be the greatest city if your public transportation is a disgrace?????

pretty good, don't usually encounter too many problems, but trains are usually way too packed and hottt during the wrong seasons and cold during the wrong ones too.

Roaches on my foot!! Had to flick it!!! In the M1 downtown bus.

Company is over 50+ years old, yet they haven t learned to manage subway properly. Everyday delays. Just awful everything. Wish NYC had competition in public transportation

I see we have a problem with the kids get on the bus for free then to have an aditude to boot is not tolerated. They cursing at me and the bus driver in Staten Island 79 bus started with an autistic man not good everyone should have respect on the bus.

Train service A is totally one of the most disgusting trains and the service is fatal, I don't know how the city hires workers who really do not get off work, such as workers who are lynching the trains are kept hidden in the seats of the train. I know what kind of boss they will have to accept all that type of sanitation. The far rackaway station does not have a few years that it was remodeled but it is disgusting as the elevators stink that they are scary to address them, we need a dog, we increase the service of the passage We are silent, the town doesn't say anything but they don't give us a service that we should deserve as citizens that we are

They do not accept your NYC ID in order to get into the building only a drivers licence or a State ID.

The worst subway I ve ever seen... even weekdays trains run at least 15-20 min delays!

Yet another way the city of New York takes as much money from you as possible. I had a month unlimited metrocard that stopped working after one use. I submitted a claim for a refund and only got $106 back when the card was $127. I went back in to try to get the rest of my money back and they couldn t discuss the matter with me. I spent the next hour calling, getting a new ticket to speak with a manager, and calling again until I finally got someone on the phone who could help resolve the issue. Still waiting on the rest of my refund.

If you need to get somewhere fast the subway is the way to go. Now with that said the stations and sometimes cars are littered with trash and smell of urine. During the summer I'd rather walk the 20-50 blocks than be waiting in the smoldering hot tunnel. Also the fare is still pretty fair.

The only reason I'm rating MTA very-good is because of it's 24 hour transit. What MTA lacks is friendly use for it's consumers i.e. elevators and cameras on it's newer bus fleet.

Buses should have no less than 5 cameras on-board

Instead of spending $$$ on wifi, please put a transit map INSIDE each station. If you take the wrong train or your train isn't running (almost every weekend) it would help to see an alternative route...or just plan a trip for another day while you're waiting for your train.
The Select buses are convenient, but three Selects pass when you're waiting for a regular bus...and don't want to walk eight blocks to the Select stop
Softer subway doors? My whole arm is black and blue from a door smashing into it. I was NOT holding the door open.

Great! The MTA just randomly decided they will stop the 6 train. I guess the thing about work, is that you have responsibilities that you are supposed to fulfill, unless you are an MTA employee than do whatever DF you want whenever you want it. I have ZERO respect to MTA, I had to, otherwise it s very unfair to any hardworking fellows that actually do their jobs. How laughably incompetent, how remarkably efficient in making life just a bit more unbearable than it already is. Hey Siri play Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6! PATHETIQUE!

There are some train lines that take longer, but the train lines I take are usually on time. The MTA just installed countdown clocks in all of their stations that you could see before you pay to go in. That way, you will know if it is worth riding or taking a car. It is hard to run the largest transit business in the USA, and most of the time, their service is fine.

Vacancier attention scams !!!! Buy an unlimited card at the week worked well at first but one day deceive ream validated the ticket to go down towards north when we wanted to go south, force to go back across the street and down on another train (some stations do not communicate directly so be careful before composting) and at the time of compiling impossible card denied. Applying for help at the counter no effort to understand us and be understood and tell us redeem card (then we just wait a little while because double time ... but when you do not know it is 30 dollars in the bone !!!! Second thing at the time of recreditation the card if you stay a little longer than the duration of unlimited well asked a receipt at the teller it often refuses to give and check the credit before any use at the terminal just in front of the checkouts because we asked for 20 dollars receipts and only 7 were credited so still rolled in. The advice and therefore to use the car boxes rather than the counter, otherwise metro super clean and safer than Paris; )

Dysfunctional subway (even before the pandemic). Lazy union workers who take taxpayer money and don't do any work. Poorly managed.

Awful service. Most staff have horrible attitudes (can you blame them?) The MTA provides unreliable, confusing service with seemingly zero regard to their paying customers. Constant delays, lines shutdown every weekend for work, but then see little to no improvement. Zero communication to their customers. I want to know how I can wait 20 minutes to get on a train, and then be stopped between stations on that same train because of "train traffic." If I could do zero stars I would. Really just absolutely bottom of the barrel awful. I'm pretty sure that public transit in hell is provided by the NYC MTA.

NYC, greedy and puffed up with fake pride.
Nothing to brag about, that's for sure!

Terrible, unreliable service. New Yorkers deserve better

The worst service ever. They shouldn't allow charge people $2.75. They deserve $0.50 not a penny more. I missed dozens of doctors appointments and meetings because of their unreliable service. Your apology will never be accepted. I've paid hundred dollars for my missed doctor appointments. On top of that I've paid thousand dollars for the job MTA cannot simply do: take you from point A to point B and do it on time (without being stuck in a tunnel for 30 mins between two express stops, telling you the C train runs on the F line, the 2 train runs local when you just got off from the 1 train at 96th, the list goes on). Never seen more unethical company that makes so much money and waste even more! Good job putting ads on your website - you are annoying even online!

MTA Sucks Never On Time They Make Their Own Schedule Never Accurate Construction And Delays Never Updated Or Announced Fast Enough

Left my house at 5:45pm to catch a 6 bus. Didnt come for 15 minutes and when it did it ignored the stop I and a few people were waiting at. 2 minutes later another bus shows, but its last stop was at southern blvd (I needed to get to riverdale) which was only 3 stops away! I asked the guy are you really stopping at southern blvd? Thats crazy , the riverdale bus just zoomed past here! Well, I wouldve been able to say that if the driver didnt rudely shut the door in my face and zoomed off. I had to wait for a Riverdale bus. Why on earth does there need to be a southern blvd 6 bus? The drivers are rude, the people who get on are rude, the service sucks so bad and don't expect to get anywhere fast.
The only time it's ever rapid transit is during rush hour, but even then the trains and busses are overcrowded and loud so you have to wait until it enpties out. We pay more and more and you might not think 2.50 is much but considering that this is the only method of transportation and you pay 2.50 per ride no matter how close it is , it all adds up. Another time I planned to leave half an hour earlier than the amount it takes to get to a university I was being interviewed at. The 2 train stopped for 35 minutes and I ended up being late anyway!
Im so done with mta and their terrible service. I cant wait to get my own car because honestly, paying a little more to get around is waaaay better than having to degrade yourself using terrible transit where it smells and people treat you like garbage despite the fact that you pay for their jobs.

Our family visited NYC December 2015 and used the subway many times daily. We bought the 7 day unlimited pass for $32 and got more than our money's worth. I will definitely do next time we are in NYC. An improvement that should be made is with the cards -- they are paper -- need to be plastic. We were constantly in rainy weather and had times the card wouldn't swipe. Also, the subway signs on road did not tell which direction the 6,4,5 were going -- like downtown, uptown -- and some stations did not have a bridge underground to cross over. Maybe I missed something, but the signs leading from the street looked EXACTLY the same, although they definitely were going different directions.We had swiped through -- realized we were on wrong side -- and then couldn't swipe in on the correct side. Overall, the subway is a great way to get around NYC.

I'm using 'West4' station in Manhattan every day to transfer to the 'E' train. The escalator to the upper floor does not work for 3 weeks!!!. Why? Nobody even put a note explaining what happens.
There are so many elderly people and people with disabilities and even people who cannot take stairs need this escalator!
Another thing that drives people crazy: the MTA announcement regarding train delays or other issues happens most of the time during arrival of other trains with so much noise that nobody even understands a single word. Why don't they take into consideration that there are many people who hardly understand English especially when it is so noisy.
How long we'll wait, like in most Europeen contries, to see electronic screen with arriving time and if there are any delays. It is a shame, that we live in the greatest country in the World with such a poor public transportation.

Living in South Florida now and wishing we had some type of decent mass transit. Those of you who have to "deal" with poor to fair service you complain about, consider if the poor service were no more. I will admit, I complained when I lived in NYC, but I am soooo wishing we had a subway or a bus that ran past 8pm. Or bus service that you didn't need a car to get to or from. Or ran more than once every 45 minutes or so. Missing my metrocard! :(

Just garbage experiences all the time. If you can afford it, just get yourself a car. Might even be cheaper considering the constant increases in fare.

Bought a $112 unlimited monthly metro pass on 11/01/2013, on 11/08/2013 it stopped working because on a small bend (not even noticeable to the eye). Went to customer service for help, they refused the issue me a refund or a new card. I went to the downtown office, they also refused to refund or give me a new card but offer an envelope I could sent in to get a refund within 5-7 weeks.. Although if the mail was lost they said they would have no responsiblity.

Basically, the MTA is garbage. We only use them because we really have no other option. Their staff are useless (although some are of the friendly useless variety). The services and stops are decaying and unsafe (I've seen other been mugged and have had two individuals attempt to mug me).

Buys a $127 monthly time MTA card. Swipes once realizes I should have bought the cash value. Talks to MTA booth attendant says no way to transfer to cash value. Why is this not possible?! He said I had 2 minutes to change it after buying .... MTA wins again taking more $$$.. also monthly doesn t work on JFK air train. BS.

It costs more to ride the train then it does to pay for car insurance plus gas. The MTA is a money making machine...

Are Staten Islanders second class citizens to Manhattan? At age sixty five I moved from Manhattan to Forest Hill Road in Staten Island. Only to discover that most SI busses don t kneel and the automatic door opener in the rear never works. After a few month commuting I was dismayed when not only did they reroute the S79 to no longer pass near me but they also removed the two S59 bus stops near me, one at Richmond/Forest Hill Rd and one at Yucon/Forest Hill Rd The next available stop on Yucon has no sidewalk access because weeds have overtaken it and the road is unsafe to walk along because the large express busses turn there usually requiring the entire street, they often park along the roadside so that you actually have to walk down the middle of the street to get to the stop, and if you can manage to get there (20 minute each morning and evening) it has no shelter from the rain.
I feel we should expect the same standards as in Manhattan where you re never more than 5 minute away from a bus stop. We pay the same fare and the same taxes. :(

MTA Is struggle In the services.We need to rebuild the whole infrastructure

Took the subway to get around town during a 3 day visit to the city. I would like to say this subway was designed specifically for the local residents because it can get tricky to follow but not impossible. Trying to figure out if you entered the subway on the NE side or the SE side is the part that was the most confusing because you won't know that until you walked down just to walk back up. Some of the entrances doesn't matter because it will lead you to the correct platform to stand on to wait for the next train. My dilemma and complaint is like the others who have written reviews and that is the delays delays delays!! Apparently MTA has been working on their subway tracks for several years overnight on weekends. We visited there on a weekend so not only did we have to figure out which trains ran late night we had to figure out what the delay was all about. The subway infrastructure could use some major sprucing up although I saw where that would be costly but I think the locals and the many visitors would appreciate it. 2 things I would request and that is for more police presence at night especially late night in the stations since there are random delays because the weirdos are in full effect. Lastly the MTA employees could do more to be helpful instead of counting money like they don't have time. Also have a better information systems if someone money is taken and they did not get a metro card and lost money the employees should be allowed to pull up any recent transaction and refund the money fast! The city is a fast paced city not a slow one so help people out to make getting to and fro a better experience.

Travelers of NYC are forced to ride this rat infested train system that is hardly ever on time. Changes routes and makes us late for events, work and it's outrageous that a city like New York can not make it work.
The fares will soon rise again and so will the heat at the stations. It's always hot and the air doesn't move while waiting on the platforms. When it rains the roofs leak. Nothing compares this system to any other.
They can't even connect lines that have been under construction for years.
It's a mess-It's dirty-
Next are the buses- this new system where you need to access machines on certain lines for the Express. Most of the time they --yup you guessed it- Do Not Work!
The bus will also leave you waiting and take off if you don't have the paper -beware--you loose the transport down 34St and yup NEXT bus for you!

I have traveled in other countries and the trains work. This week the B was delayed 24min between 32 St & 34 St for some reason. The Q needed to change to the R line and added 18min to my trip home.

MTA you are awful!!!

I never been to this before and I don't think you are allowed to the building and I think I love it so much

The ever ever WORST subway I've ever seen.

I don't know what kind of company could run the commuter rail like this. A pile of problems happened everyday. Signal problems, track problems, car problems,delay,...Among all the subways in the world, I never seen such more.....

Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, Pyongyang in North Korea, even hell-like 'evil countries' are running better subways than NYC.

Old? see London Paris and Boston. Too many people? See Tokyo and Beijing.

No AC, no screen door, even not running on schedule. but high fare, high noise, poor services.

You got extra 1 billion last year, you increase the fare, but what have you done to the NY citizens?

JOKE.

Worst train company ever, if it s a little windy or rainy don t consider taking the north Line in NY ! They are even worst than in the UK, congrats

MTA will never be fixed. It just will never happen.

MTA is a cruel joke being perpetrated on the citizens of nyc.

The service is crappy and uncaring. Trains way too few and waiting time is atrocious!

MTA is a joke without a punchline

To move quickly from A to B in New York I can only recommend public transport. Those who stay longer in New York should get a 7 day ticket. This costs $ 38 and can be used in all modes of transport. The buses and subways are quite well cooled ... if you are a little sensitive here you should take a light jacket or wear a scarf. Google Maps is also helpful when searching for a connection. Enter the start and finish and off you go ...

Helpful but overall MTA is slow. The staff does the best they can do

When you are familiar with public transportation in NYC it's not bad, but the subway maps and transfers can be daunting when your not.

You people that complain have never been to Philly. Your subway system is fantastic. Priced great and runs so fast you never need a schedule. Some stops are 30 and 40 blocks apart. You could never match that in a car. I LOVE NEW YORK.

Why are the people in the booths very rude. If you have a problem with your metro card they don't care. They are not helpful at all. Maybe they should bring more machines and get rid of those workers, if they hate their jobs so much. Or get people who are happy to be getting paid.

The train runs very frequently .at night need more services on the number 2 line to flatbush.

Disgraceful service, everyone living/visiting knows that. How come a bus doesn't have screens indicating stations? Why do express trains so frequently turn to regular service? How come so many stations aren't accessible to disabled and children? And why do most European capitals have way better systems? Things have to change!

I would have give negative stars if possible. NYC subway has no schedules, every train is messed up on the weekend. I have been waiting for the R train which the schedule is never right for 30 minutes until some train announcement told me there were none at the stop where I was at. I had to transfer and there were no clear signs about directions to take. It waste me over 2 hours to get home when it is normally a 15 minutes ride. This is way too ridiculous. MTA should apologize to the time I wasted due to their lack of direction and poor choices of road work schedules.

It sure runs the worst transporting service, which according to MTA rules bus schedules can change without any notice. Plus most trains run awful as usual. It's all thanks to the MTA being run by a bunch of asswipes!!!

It is bullshit this train service and to finish chingar the ticket very expensive

Wow where to begin. It is hit or miss with the MTA. As a local manhattanite i depend on mass transit. What i dont appreciate is the fare hikes every 5 seconds!

Bad transport, no help and the machines swallow your money without giving you the ticket. There is nothing else but avoid the machines and ask for a receipt.

As much as people complain about the MTA services and costs, I can only be grateful. In other places of the United States you can only get by with a car. Public transportation isn't as good as NYC. But in NYC we have bus and subway. During the hurricane, the MTA did a great job cleaning up and getting us back on track.

The Q and B lines that go to south brooklyn tend to have a constant schedule with minimal delays. But once you hit Grand street on the B, that is a whole different ball game. You can get stuck at broadway-lafayette for 15-20 minutes due to build up in the surrounding subway lines.

I was taking the M104 Bus to West 96 St. when some older woman got on and sat down in the Seats Reserved for Disabilities. She had a cane and was happy with the service of the bus driver. However some other passengers complained (all women) that the bus driver was not pulling the bus right up to the bus stop to let the woman with a cane off the bus.

Every bus stop is different and because of parked vehicles in the bus stop, he had to let this woman off a few feet from the curb. Other women loud-mouthed the driver, saying he was not doing his job and this action "would come back to haunt him"

This critique was grossly unfair. So I have the name & number of the driver. He is a very pleasing young man named Lysander Aleus-Ledain #53500 and didn't deserve these cruel criticisms from these other passengers. I carry a cane myself because of arthritis, am 77 years young and will defend this driver who did everything correctly. He is a young man who performs his job well and deserves praise and not these adverse criticisms, if they ever reach the MTA.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Ronald Schwarz, Prof. Emeritus, Columbia U.,CUNY & the New School